DNA encoding ATP-dependent fructose 6-phosphate 1-phosphotransferase originating from plant, recombinant vector containing the same and method for changing sugar content in plant cells under low temperature

ABSTRACT

A DNA encoding cold stable PFK, a recombinant vector which can express a cold stable PFK in a host cell, and a method for changing sugar content in plant cells under low temperature using the recombinant vector are disclosed. The present invention provides a DNA encoding ATP dependent fructose 6-phosphate 1-phosphotransferase originating from a plant, as well as a recombinant vector comprising the DNA and a plant transformed with the DNA.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to a DNA encoding ATP-dependent fructose 6-phosphate 1-phosphotransferase (EC 2.7.1.11) (hereinafter referred to as "PFK"), a recombinant vector containing the same and a method for changing sugar content in plant cells under low temperature using the recombinant vector.

BACKGROUND ART

PFK is an enzyme which catalyzes the phosphorylation of fructose 6-phosphate (F6P) to fructose 1,6-bisphosphate, a key regulatory step in the glycolytic pathway.

It is well-known that when plant tissues are exposed to a low temperature, the content of sugars such as sucrose, glucose, fructose and the like is generally increased. For example, this phenomenon is observed in potato tubers. Accumulation of reducing sugars such as glucose and fructose in potato tubers during storage at low temperature is undesirable in industry because they cause excess browning of potato chips during processing. As for the cause of the accumulation of the reducing sugars, there are various hypotheses. However, it is thought that the activity of the glycolytic pathway is greatly reduced at low temperatures, so that the flow of the breakdown products of starch to sucrose is increased, thereby increasing the accumulation of the reducing sugars. PFK is thought to be one of the key enzymes of the glycolytic pathway, and it is well-known that PFK is cold labile. Therefore, it is thought that the drastic reduction of the activity of the glycolytic pathway at low temperature is caused by the drastic reduction of the activity of PFK.

PFK genes have been isolated from prokaryotes such as Escherichia coli, thermophilic bacteria, Bacillus subtilis and mycoplasma, and from eukaryotic tissues such as human muscle, human liver, rabbit muscle and mouse liver. However, the isolation of a plant PFK gene has not been reported, and the isolation of a gene encoding cold stable PFK has also not been reported. Therefore, it has been difficult hitherto to develop a potato variety resistant to Cold Induced Sweetening by introducing PFK genes. Nor has it been possible to reduce the activity of the glycolytic pathway in plant tissues by expressing an anti-sense PFK gene, thereby developing a plant having a high sugar content, which has a new taste.

European Patent Publication 0 438 904 (Japanese Laid-open Patent Application (Kokai) No. 4-341126) discloses an example of introducing a PFK gene into a plant. In the invention described in this publication, the E. coli PFK gene is expressed in potato and rice and it is shown that the amount of several intermediates of the pathways of the carbohydrate metabolism are changed. In particular, it is shown that the sucrose content in the tubers immediately after harvest is significantly decreased. However, in the invention of the publication, the amount of glucose and fructose in the tubers during storage at low temperature, which is an industrial problem, is not mentioned. In view of the fact that E. coli PFK is an enzyme which is cold labile (Kruger, N. J. (1989) Biochemical Society Transaction 629th Meeting, London Vol. 17, 760-761), it is expected that a potato variety resistant to Cold Induced Sweetening cannot be obtained by introducing the E. coli PFK gene into potato and expressing it in the tubers. To attain this objective, a gene encoding PFK which is cold stable is necessary. However, a gene for a cold stable PFK has not yet been isolated.

In order to store potato tubers for a long time, storage at low temperature after harvest is very important for suppressing diseases, sprouting and aging.

However, when tubers stored at low temperature are directly used to make potato chips or French fries, browning of the products occurs during processing and the product values are greatly decreased (especially in potato chips). It is known that this browning is caused by the Maillard reaction between amino acids and reducing sugars contained in potato tubers, which occurs during processing in a hot cooking oil (Schallenberger, R. S. et al., (1959) J. Agric. Fd Chem., 7, 274). It is known that the amount of the reducing sugars (glucose and fructose) in the tubers is increased when the tubers are stored at a low temperature, and a high correlation is observed between the amount of glucose and fructose in the tubers and the degree of browning. Thus, it is thought that the increase in the amount of glucose and fructose during storage at a low temperature is the main cause of browning in the processing of the potato (Gray, D. and Hughes, J. C. (1978) The Potato Crop (ed. P. M. Harris), Chapman & Hall, London, pp.504-544).

At present, processors of potato chips use tubers stored at a low temperature of about 8° C. (the temperature varies depending on the varieties) and treatment with a sprout suppressant. However, reducing sugars accumulate to an unacceptable degree, so that they use the potato tubers after decreasing the amount of the reducing sugars by treatments called blanching or reconditioning before the processing. Since these treatments are costly and troublesome, if a new variety of potato were developed, in which the reducing sugars did not accumulate at the storage temperature currently employed, the cost of processing would be decreased. Further, if a variety of potato were developed, in which the reducing sugars hardly accumulated at a temperature as low as 2°-4° C., not only the labor and cost for the pretreatments such as blanching and reconditioning can be saved, but also germination, which is the cause of aging and loss of dry weight, can be avoided, so that long-term storage without using a sprout suppressant can be possible. Residues of such chemicals in tubers are problematic from the point of view of health hazards. Thus, development of a potato variety resistant to Cold Induced Sweetening is strongly desired by the processors.

Although the mechanism of the accumulation of glucose and fructose during storage at low temperature is complicated and involves various physiological changes in the tubers, it is thought that one of the major causes is the drastic reduction in the activity of PFK at low temperature. PFK is said to be a key regulatory enzyme of the glycolytic pathway (Dixon, W. L. and ap Rees, T. (1980) Phytochem., 19, 1653; Dixon, W. L. et al., (1981) Phytochem., 20, 969; Pollock, C. J. and ap Rees, T. (1975) Phytochem., 14, 613). In tubers during storage at low temperature, it is thought that reducing sugars are supplied by breakdown products of starch through F6P. The biological reactions using F6P as a substrate are roughly divided into two. One is the reaction catalyzed by PFK, by which F6P enters the glycolytic pathway, and the other is the reaction catalyzed by sucrose-6-phosphate synthase (hereinafter referred to as "SPS", EC 2.4.1.14), by which F6P enters the sucrose synthesis pathway. Thus, these two enzymes compete for F6P. In potato tubers stored at room temperature after harvest, the amount of glucose and fructose that accumulate is usually very small as long as sprouting and aging do not occur. It is thought that this is because of higher PFK activity than SPS activity, so that F6P preferentially enters the glycolytic pathway. However, at low temperature, the enzyme activity of PFK is drastically decreased and SPS activity is higher than PFK activity, so that F6P preferentially flows into the sucrose synthesis pathway rather than into the glycolytic pathway. The sucrose is finally converted to glucose and fructose by invertase (EC 3.2.1.26) and glucose and fructose accumulate. Thus, the decrease in the activity of the glycolytic pathway due to the decrease in PFK activity is thought to be a cause of the increase in the amount of glucose and fructose in potato tubers during storage at low temperature. This hypothesis was supported by Hammond et al (Planta 180, 613-616, 1990) who reported that cold stable PFKs exist in the tubers of a variety resistant to Cold Induced Sweetening, whereas PFKs are not cold stable in the usual processing variety in which the reducing sugar content increases during storage at low temperature. Thus, it is suggested that the stability of PFK to low temperature in the tubers is the main factor which determines the amount of glucose and fructose during storage at low temperatures.

If a DNA encoding cold stable PFK is obtained, the activity of the glycolytic pathway in the tubers during storage at low temperature can be promoted by introducing the DNA into potato, so that a potato maintaining low amounts of sugars under low temperature in tubers can be developed. In this way, processors can save the cost of blanching and reconditioning currently carried out for decreasing the content of reducing sugars.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a DNA encoding a cold stable PFK. Another object of the present invention is to provide a recombinant vector which expresses the cold stable PFK in a host cell. Still another object of the present invention is to provide a method for changing the sugar content in plant cells under low temperature by transforming the plant with the recombinant vector.

To attain the above-described objects, the present inventors tried to isolate and analyze a cDNA (containing coding region and non-coding region) encoding one of the isozymes of PFK originating from a plant tissue having cold stable PFK, particularly from tubers of potato variety Brodick, and succeeded in accomplishing this. Further, it was confirmed that the isolated gene expresses cold stable PFK in E. coli and in potato tubers, and that the glucose content in tubers of the potato in which the gene is expressed and which were stored at a low temperature is decreased and so the color of the potato chips produced from the tubers is improved. Further, the inventors succeeded in isolating PFK genes of various plants using the potato PFK gene as a probe, and hence identified amino acid sequences which are specific to and commonly contained in various plant PFKs.

That is, the present invention provides a DNA encoding PFK originating from a plant. The present invention also provides a recombinant vector comprising the DNA according to the present invention, which can express PFK originating from a plant in a host cell. The present invention still further provides a method for changing the sugar content in plant cells under low temperature, which comprises transforming said plant with said recombinant vector. The present invention further provides DNAs encoding the amino acid sequences identified as Sequence ID Nos. 11, 14, 21 and 22 in the Sequence Listing. The present invention still further provides a method for detecting a plant PFK gene by hybridizing sample DNAs with the DNA identified as Sequence ID Nos. 11-22 in the Sequence Listing or a part thereof, or a DNA containing said DNA identified as Sequence ID Nos. 11-22. The present invention still further provides a method for amplifying a plant PFK gene by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) by using as a primer the DNA identified as Sequence ID Nos. 11-22 or a part thereof, or a DNA containing said DNA identified as Sequence ID Nos. 11-22.

By the present invention, a DNA encoding a cold stable PFK and a recombinant vector containing the same were first provided. By introducing the recombinant vector according to the present invention to a plant and expressing the same in the plant by a genetic engineering method, the glucose content in tuber tissue stored at a low temperature can be decreased when compared with tubers of non-transformed plants. Therefore, the present invention can be used for developing a potato resistant to Cold Induced Sweetening. Further, since the DNA according to the present invention originated from a plant, it can be used for the isolation of other plant PFK genes, whereas the PFKs of other organisms are difficult to use as probes for the isolation of plant PFKs. Further, if various plant PFK genes are isolated, the PFK activity in plant cells can be reduced by antisense RNAs. Thus, for example, glycolysis can be modified, or respiration can be reduced, so that sweet fruits and vegetables containing more sugar can be prepared.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows the induction of the PFK activity with time in E. coli No. 58 transformed with the recombinant vector of the present invention and of a control E. coli No. 1, after adding IPTG;

FIG. 2 shows the results of immunotitration of the PFK activity of E. coli No. 58 transformed with the recombinant vector according to the present invention;

FIGS. 3A-3B show the results of the analyses by SDS-PAGE and Western blot of the PFK purified from E. coli No. 58 transformed with the recombinant vector according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 shows an expression vector containing cold stable PFK-d gene;

FIG. 5 shows the results of Northern analyses of RNAs from stored tubers of lines B75 and B40; and

FIG. 6 shows the results of Western analyses of proteins from stored tubers of lines B75 and B40.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As described above, the DNA according to the present invention encodes a plant PFK. The DNAs encoding PFKs of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.), flaveria (Flaveria brownii), rice (Oryza sativa), maize (Zea mays) and radish (Raphanus sativus), which are examples of the DNA of the present invention, encode the amino acid sequences identified as Sequence ID Nos. 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 in the Sequence Listing described below, respectively. Examples of such DNAs are the DNAs identified as Sequence ID Nos. 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 in the Sequence Listing, which were actually cloned and the DNA sequences were actually determined in the examples described below. However, the DNA according to the present invention is not limited thereto (It should be noted that the amino acid sequences of Sequence ID Nos. 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 are the same as the amino acid sequences shown in Sequence ID Nos. 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9, respectively). In particular, although the DNA having the DNA sequence shown in Sequence ID Nos. 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 are cDNAs, since the amino acid sequences of plant PFKs and the DNA sequences encoding the PFKs were determined by the present invention, the genomic DNA encoding the amino acid sequences identified as Sequence ID Nos. 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 can be easily prepared by the PCR method using the genomic DNA as a template. Therefore, it is construed that such genomic DNAs (which may contain introns) are within the scope of the present invention.

The plant PFK encoded by the above-described DNA coding for the amino acid sequence identified as Sequence ID No. 2 or by the above-described DNA having the DNA sequence shown in Sequence ID No. 1 has a Q10 value (described below) at 5° C. of not more than 2.4 as described concretely in the examples below. If the Q10 value of a PFK is not more than 2.4 at 5° C., it can be said that the PFK is cold stable.

The DNA according to the present invention may be obtained by, for example, the following method.

Firstly, to isolate poly(A)⁺ RNA corresponding to PFK from a plant tissue, it is preferred to isolate the total RNAs which have not been decomposed. The preferred starting material is a plant tissue which is known to contain cold stable PFK, such as potato variety Brodick (which is resistant to Cold Induced Sweetening).

The total RNAs may be isolated from potato tubers by, for example, sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)/phenol method. PFK poly(A)⁺ RNA may be obtained from the total RNAs by using Dynabeads mRNA purification kit (DYNAL). Since it is not easy to directly isolate the PFK poly(A)⁺ RNA by this treatment, it is preferred to prepare cDNAs using the obtained poly(A)⁺ RNAs as templates and to prepare a cDNA library containing the cDNAs. More particularly, a cDNA library may be prepared by synthesizing double-stranded cDNAs by the method of Gubler and Hoffman (Gene, 25:263, 1983) or the like, ligating the cDNAs to appropriate vectors via an adaptor DNA by a DNA ligase, and by transforming the host microorganisms with the thus prepared vectors. In cases where the host microorganism is E. coli, it is preferred to use a vector of the pUC series or A phage series. Double-stranded cDNAs, prepared from poly(A)⁺ RNAs from tubers of potato variety Brodick, may be inserted using a DNA ligase into the Eco RI site of λgt10 phage vector via an adaptor DNA containing Eco RI and Not I sites. Phage particles may then be prepared, thereby obtaining a cDNA library. A cDNA clone corresponding to the PFK poly(A)⁺ RNA is then identified in the thus prepared cDNA library.

The identification of a PFK cDNA clone may be carried out by the plaque hybridization method using synthesized oligonucleotides based on the partially determined amino acid sequence of the purified plant PFK, or a DNA having a part of the DNA sequence of the PFK gene, which may be amplified by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using the above-mentioned oligonucleotides as primers and using the plant genomic DNA or cDNA as a template.

Then the transformants containing the DNA encoding the PFK originated from potato tubers are cultured in a large scale by the plate lysate method or the like. The desired phage DNA is then purified by a conventional method such as Sambrook's method (Molecular Cloning: A laboratory Manual/Second Edition, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, 1989). The purified phage DNA is then digested with restriction enzyme Not I and subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis or the like to obtain the cDNA encoding PFK. Further, once the potato PFK gene is isolated, PFK genes can easily be isolated from various plants using the isolated potato PFK gene or a part thereof as a probe or using a part thereof as a primer for conducting PCR.

As described in examples below, cDNAs of PFK genes of various plants were cloned and their nucleotide sequences and amino acid sequences deduced therefrom were determined. By comparing the amino acid sequences of the various plants, 13 amino acid sequences having not less than 5 amino acid residues, which are common in plant PFKs, were identified. Therefore, PFK genes of various plants can be detected or amplified using oligonucleotides encoding these sequences or a part thereof, or nucleotides containing the region encoding these sequences, as a probe or a primer for PCR. The DNAs encoding the amino acid sequences shown in Table 7 can be easily synthesized chemically. Among these, sequences (1), (4), (11) and (12) in Table 7 (i.e., Sequence ID Nos. 11, 14, 21 and 22) are common in PFKs of plants but not found in PFKs of organisms other than plants. Thus, these are specific for plants. Therefore, by utilizing these sequences, plant PFKs can be detected or amplified avoiding the possible contamination by PFK from other organisms. As probes, oligonucleotides of at least 15 bases up to the full length of the gene are preferred. Methods for labelling the oligonucleotides with a radioactive marker, a fluorescent marker or the like are well-known in the art. As primers for PCR, oligonucleotides of 15-30 bases are preferred.

The PFK cDNA thus obtained may be used for transforming microorganisms, plants and animals after preparing a recombinant vector with a vector for microorganisms, plants or animals, thereby increasing the PFK activity in the transformed microorganism, plant or animal tissue. The PFK cDNA may also be used for inhibiting the intrinsic PFK activity of a plant by inserting the PFK cDNA in a reverse direction in a vector and expressing the cDNA in a plant tissue such as potato tuber.

Examples of the microorganisms include bacteria belonging to the genus Escherichia such as E. coli and yeasts belonging to the genus Saccharomyces such as baker's yeast. Examples of the plants include dicotyledons which can be transformed by Agrobacterium-Ri/Ti plasmid system, such as those belonging to the family Solanaceae such as potato, tobacco, and tomato; those belonging to the family Cucurbitaceae such as melon and cucumber; those belonging to the family Cruciferae such as radish and rapeseed; and fruits such as grape and oranges. Examples of the plants which can be transformed by PEG-calcium phosphate method, electroporation method, particle bombardment method or the like include monocotyledons such as those belonging to the family Gramineae represented by rice, corn and the like. Examples of the animals include various cultured cells (e.g., BALB/c-3T9 and the like) of human, mouse and the like. The vectors which may be used for these hosts will now be exemplified below.

Examples of the vectors for bacteria include various plasmid vectors (e.g., pBR322, pUC series vectors and the like) and phage vectors (e.g., λgt10, λgt11, λZAP and the like) which are described in references (e.g., Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual/Second Edition, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, 1989). Examples of the vectors for yeast and animal cells include those described in references (e.g., Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual/Second Edition, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, 1989). Examples of the vectors for plants include various plasmid vectors and those originated from Ti plasmid such as binary vectors (e.g., pGA482, pBin19 and the like) (An G. et al., (1986) Plant Physiol. 81, 301; Bevan, M., (1984) Nucleic Acids Research 12, 8711). In cases where a plant vector originated from Ti plasmid is used, the obtained recombinant DNA is introduced into a bacterium belonging to the genus Agrobacterium such as Agrobacterium tumefaciens (e.g., LBA4404), and the resulting transformed bacterium is infected to a plant tissue or callus by, for example, culturing the tissue or callus with the bacterium, thereby introducing the cDNA to the host plant (Komari, T. (1989) Plant Science, 60, 223: Visser, R. G. F. et al., (1989) Plant Molecular Biology 12, 329, etc). Plant individuals containing the recombinant DNA may be obtained by regenerating an organ or whole plant by a known tissue culture method.

EXAMPLES

The present invention will now be described more concretely by way of examples. It should be noted that the present invention is not restricted to the following examples.

1: Purification of Potato PFK

PFK was purified from 5 kg of tubers of potato variety Record or Maris Piper by a modification of the method of Kruger et al (Arch. Bioichem. Biophys. 267, 690-700, 1988), in which PFK was fractionated and purified by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel (containing 4M urea) electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) rather than by Mono Q column chromatography, after the ATP agarose column chromatography. More particularly, the fraction containing PFK activity was concentrated to about 0.5 ml by ultrafiltration and equivolume of a sample buffer (62.5 mM Tris-HCl (pH 6.8), 2% SDS, 5% 2-mercaptoethanol, 10% glycerol, 4M urea, 0.001% Bromphenol Blue) was added. The resulting mixture was heated at 65° C. for 10 minutes and the resultant was subjected to electrophoresis. The composition of the gel was the same as that employed in the method of Kruger et al (Arch. Bioichem. Biophys. 267, 690-700, 1988). After the electrophoresis, the gel was stained with Coomassie Briliant Blue R-250 (CBB) and the portion of the gel containing the PFK polypeptide having a molecular weight of about 53 kDa was cut out with a razor blade. The polypeptide was eluted from the gel by using an electroelution apparatus (Model 422 Electroeluter, commercially available from BIO-RAD), and the resultant was dialyzed against a solution containing 50 mM ammonium bicarbonate and 0.001% SDS, followed by drying under vacuum to obtain a final purified sample.

2: Determination of Amino Acid Sequence of Potato PFK

The purified PFK sample was digested with V8 protease (originated from Staphylococcus aureus) in accordance with the method of Kruger et al (Arch. Bioichem. Biophys. 267, 690-700, 1988), and the digestion product was fractionated by SDS-PAGE according to the method of Kruger et al (Arch. Bioichem. Biophys. 267, 690-700, 1988). The fractionated polypeptides were transferred to a PVDF membrane (Millipore) and stained with CBB. The stained band was cut out together with the PVDF membrane using a razor blade and the obtained band was subjected to determination of the amino acid sequence of the N-terminal region. For determining the amino acid sequence of the N-terminal region of the purified PFK, the above-described final purified PFK sample was used as it is. The analysis was carried out by the solid phase or gas phase sequencing method (This analysis was entrusted to The Department of Biochemistry, Leeds University and The Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge). From both samples, the amino acid sequence of the N-terminal region of the purified PFK was determined, which is shown in Table 1. The determined amino acid sequence was compared with amino acid sequences of known proteins by using a database (The Swiss Prot data bank (Release 23)), but no amino acid sequences having a significant homology were found.

                                      TABLE 1                                      __________________________________________________________________________     Determined N-terminal Amino Acid Sequence of PFK from Potato                   __________________________________________________________________________     Tubers                                                                         Thr  Glu  Ser  Asn Lysr  Gln  Met                                                                    Val  Val                                                                            Lys                                                                               Gly  Asp  Tyr  Gly  Tyr  Val  Leu  Glu                                         Asp                      Val                                                                               ?  ?  Leu                               Val     Glu                         Asp                                        Ala                                                         __________________________________________________________________________

3. Synthesis of DNA Encoding Determined Amino Acid Sequence of Potato PFK

Based on the determined amino acid sequence, the oligonucleotides having the base sequences shown in Table 2 were prepared by a DNA synthesizer (Applied Biosystems) according to the manual of the synthesizer, and the synthesized oligonucleotides were used as primers of PCR described below.

                  TABLE 2                                                          ______________________________________                                         DNA Primers Synthesized Based on Determined                                    Amino Acid Sequence                                                            Primer Name                                                                             DNA sequence (5' → 3')                                                                      Degeneracy                                        ______________________________________                                         N10:     ACGGAAAGTAATTATCAAATG                                                                              256                                                          A  GTC   C   C   G                                                             T                                                                              C                                                                   N20RI:   TCCTCGAGIACGTAICCGTA                                                                                64                                                          T   A  A   A    A                                                                T                                                                              C                                                                 ______________________________________                                          *A: adenine, T: thymine, G: guanine, C: cytosine, I: inosine             

4. Preparation of Poly(A)⁺ RNA

From tubers of potato variety Brodick stored at 5° C. for 4 months, or from sprouts of potato variety Record or Brodick, the total RNAs were isolated by the SDS-phenol method. Poly(A)⁺ RNAs were purified from the total RNAs using a Dynabeads mRNA purification kit (DYNAL) according to the manual attached to the kit.

5. Synthesis of cDNA Using the thus isolated poly(A)⁺ RNAs as templates and oligo dT(12-18) or random hexanucleotide as a primer, and using RNase H-free reverse transcriptase (BRL), single-stranded cDNAs were firstly prepared. Then double-stranded cDNAs were prepared using a cDNA synthesis kit (Amersham). The single-stranded cDNAs synthesized here were used as the templates in the PCR described below, and the double-stranded cDNAs thus prepared were used for the preparation of the cDNA library described below. The method for synthesizing the cDNAs was in accordance with the manual attached to the reagent or the kit.

6. Preparation of λgt10 cDNA Library

Using the double-stranded cDNAs prepared from the poly(A)⁺ RNAs from tubers of variety Brodick, which were synthesized using oligo dT (12-18) as a primer, or using the double-stranded cDNAs prepared from the poly(A)⁺ RNAs from the sprouts of tubers of variety Record, which were synthesized using the random hexanucleotide, λgt10 cDNA libraries were prepared. The libraries were prepared by using a λgt10 cloning kit (Amersham) according to the manual attached to the kit. However, the adaptor included in the kit was not used and an Eco RI/Not I adaptor (Pharmacia LKB) was used therefor.

7. Isolation of cDNA Encoding N-terminal Region of Purified PFK

PCR was performed using 500 pmol each of N10 and N20RI (see Table 2) synthesized by a DNA synthesizer based on the amino acid sequence shown in Table 1 as primers, and using 1.0 μg of the single-stranded cDNA originated from the genomic DNA of variety Record or 0.1 μg of the single-stranded cDNA originated from the poly(A)⁺ RNAs from tuber sprouts of variety Brodick as a template. The buffer which was supplied with the Taq polymerase (Ampli Taq, Perkin-Elmer Cetus) was used according to the manual attached thereto. To the reaction mixture, 2.5 U of the enzyme and 20 nmol each of the nucleotides were added to the reaction mixture and the total volume of the reaction mixture was 100 μl. A cycle of 94° C., 1 minute (denaturing)/50° C., 2 minutes (annealing)/72° C., 2 minutes (extension) was repeated 35 times and then the reaction was further continued at 72° C. for 10 minutes. An aliquot of the reaction mixture was sampled and analyzed by 4% agarose gel electrophoresis. A PCR product having 59 base pairs was detected in both cases where either of the DNAs was used as the template. These DNAs of 59 base pairs were subcloned into plasmid vector pCR1000 (Invitrogen) according to the manual attached to the kit. As a result, a number of E. coli colonies having recombinant plasmids were obtained. Plasmids were recovered by a conventional method from 7 clones (i.e., 4 clones originated from Record genomic DNA and 3 clones originated from Brodick cDNA) having the plasmid containing the insert of 59 base pairs. The DNA sequences of the PCR products contained in the 7 clones were determined by the dideoxy chain termination method. The DNA sequences were determined using SEQUENASE Var2 (U.S. Biochemical Corp) according to the manual attached thereto. Among the 7 clones, 6 clones had the same DNA sequence (23 base pairs) in the region between the PCR primers. A DNA having the 23 base pairs was synthesized by a DNA synthesizer, and was named PFK23 (Table 3). PFK23 was used as a primer in the PCR described below and as a probe for screening the cDNA library.

                  TABLE 3                                                          ______________________________________                                         DNA Sequence of PFK23 (5' → 3')                                         ______________________________________                                         ATGAAGGTGGTGAAAGGAGATTA                                                        ______________________________________                                    

8. Isolation of PFK cDNA with Partial Length

The μgt10 cDNA library (150,000 pfu) originated from tuber sprouts of variety Record was amplified by the plate lysate method and the λDNA was purified. PCR was performed using 1.0 μg of the obtained EDNA as a template, and using 100 pmol each of PFK23 and μ1232 (Table 4) which has the DNA sequence of λgt10. The reaction conditions of the PCR were the same as described above except that the temperature in annealing was 60° C. As a result, a PCR product having about 600 base pairs was obtained. The obtained PCR product was subcloned in the above-mentioned plasmid vector pCR1000, and one of the obtained recombinant plasmids was named pPFK01. The DNA sequence of the PCR product inserted in plasmid pPFK01 was determined by the method described above. The amino acid sequence was deduced from the DNA sequence. As a result, a part of the amino acid sequence had a significant homology with the amino acid sequence of known PFKs. Further, in the 5'-terminal region, the DNA sequence encoded the amino acid sequence determined by the analysis of the purified PFK mentioned above.

9. Isolation of PFK cDNA with Full Length

The DNA fragment having about 600 base pairs obtained by digesting the plasmid pPFK01 with restriction enzyme Not I was labelled with a radioactive isotope ³² p. Using the labelled DNA as a probe, the λgt10 cDNA library (about 400,000 pfu) originated from tubers of variety Brodick was screened by the plaque hybridization method. As a result, 57 independent positive plaques were obtained. From these plaques, 24 plaques were randomly selected and were subjected to secondary screening using the above-mentioned DNA fragment having about 600 base pairs and PFK23 as the probes. As a result, 11 clones were positive to both labelled probes. After third screening, plate lysates were prepared from these independent 11 clones. PCR was performed using 10 μl of the lysate as a template and 50 pmol each of the synthetic DNAs λ1232 and λ1231 shown in Table 4 as primers. The PCR was performed in the same conditions as described above except that the annealing temperature was 60° C. By analysis of the PCR product by 0.8% agarose gel electrophoresis, it was estimated that the length of the cDNA fragment per se excluding the length of the λDNA was about 1700-2200 base pairs. Potato tuber poly(A)⁺ RNA was analyzed by the conventional Northern blotting method using as a probe the above-mentioned DNA fragment of about 600 base pairs labelled with radioactive isotope ³² p. As a result, a poly(A)⁺ RNA having about 2000-2300 base pairs was detected, which is almost coincident with the results of the above-described PCR. The recombinant plasmid vectors prepared by subcloning the DNA insert cut out by restriction enzyme Not I from the 11 λgt10 clones into the Not I site of a plasmid vector pBluescript SK II(-) (Stratagene) were named pPFK16, pPFK17, pPFK19, pPFK26, pPFK28, pPFK29, pPFK31, pPFK32, pPFK33, pPFK34 and pPFK35, respectively.

                  TABLE 4                                                          ______________________________________                                         DNA Sequence of Primers Originated from λgt10                           used in PCR (5' → 3')                                                   ______________________________________                                         λ1232:                                                                               CTTATGAGTATTTCTTCCAGGGTA                                          λ1231:                                                                               AGCAAGTTCAGCCTCGTTAAG                                             ______________________________________                                    

The total DNA sequence (1978 base pairs) of the cDNA insert in pPFK32 was determined by the method described above, and is shown as Sequence ID No. 1 in the Sequence Listing together with the deduced amino acid sequence encoded thereby. The DNA contained a region of 1455 base pairs translated into 485 amino acids containing the determined amino acid sequence of the N-terminal of the purified PFK (i.e., the third amino acid, threonine to the 26th amino acid, leucine (although the 24th and 25th amino acid of the purified PFK could not be determined, as shown in Table 1) shown in Sequence ID No. 1 in the Sequence Listing). In the deduced amino acid sequence, an initiation codon encoding methionine exists upstream of the N-terminal of the purified potato tuber PFK polypeptide by two amino acids. The deduced molecular weight is 53.8 kDa which is almost coincident with the molecular weight (53 kDa) of the potato tuber PFK-d polypeptide, which was deduced by Kruger et al (Arch. Bioichem. Biophys. 267, 690-700, 1988). The reason why the codon "ATG" of 133rd to 135th nucleotides is the initiation codon of PFK is that termination codons in different reading frames exist upstream of this ATG (e.g., TGA: 15th-17th, TAA: 26th-28th, and TGA: 55th-57th), so that even if an ATG codon exists upstream of the first base C of the isolated cDNA, the codon cannot be the initiation codon of PFK. Further, although an ATG codon exists at 36th-38th nucleotides, a termination codon TGA exists at 90th - 92nd nucleotides in the same reading frame, so that the ATG codon cannot be the initiation codon of PFK.

<Characterization of PFK Encoded by Isolated cDNA>

10. Expression of Plant PFK Gene in E. coli

To prove that the isolated gene is the gene encoding PFK having an enzyme activity, it is necessary to actually express the gene. Therefore, the inventors tried to express the isolated gene by introducing it into E. coli as follows.

First, PCR was performed using 250 ng of plasmid pPFK32 as a template and 30 pg each of PFK32 and PFK32R (Table 5) to which Eco RI site and Pst I site had been introduced, respectively, as primers. The reaction conditions were the same as described above except that the annealing temperature was 30° C., 35° C. or 40° C., the number of cycles was five, and Pfu DNA polymerase (Stratagene) was used as the DNA polymerase. The obtained PCR product was fractionated by 0.8% agarose gel electrophoresis and the desired band corresponding to about 1800 base pairs was cut out. The DNA in the cut out band was recovered from the gel by a conventional method. The DNA thus obtained, having about 1800 base pairs, was digested with restriction enzymes Eco RI and Pst I, and the resultant was ligated with plasmid vector pKK223-2 (Pharmacia LKB) which had been digested with restriction enzymes Eco RI and Pst I. The resulting recombinant plasmid (pKK32) was introduced into E coli XL1-Blue (Biotechniques, 5, 376-378, 1987) according to a conventional method and the E. coli was cultured overnight at 37° C. on Luria-Bertani (hereinafter referred to as "LB") agar medium containing antibiotic carbenicillin (50 μg/ml). From a number of emerged colonies, 110 colonies were selected. The DNA fragment having about 2000 base pairs, which was cut out from the plasmid pPFK32 by restriction enzyme Not I, was labelled with a radioactive isotope ³² p and colony hybridization was performed using the labelled DNA as a probe. As a result, 66 positive colonies were obtained. These E. coli clones, which were confirmed to contain the potato PFK gene, could hardly grow on the LB agar medium containing 1 mM of isopropylβ-D-thiogalactopyranoside (hereinafter referred to as "IPTG") presumably because the metabolism is confused by the PFK of which activity is controlled in a different manner from that of the E. coli PFK. Thus, the PFK gene introduced into E. coli was expressed as follows. Firstly, the E. coli cells were cultured with shaking at 37° C. on LB liquid medium containing 50 μg/ml of carbenicillin until the absorbance at 600 nm reached 0.3-0.7. Then IPTG (1 mM) was added and the cells were recovered after culturing the cells with shaking for a prescribed time. The cells were then lyzed by the method of Tabita et al (Anal. Biochem. 84, 462-472, 1978) using toluene, and the PFK activity was measured by the method of Kruger et al (Arch. Bioichem. Biophys. 267, 690-700, 1988). E. coli No. 58 showed a PFK activity which is about 7 times higher than that of the control E. coli No. 1 (into which pKK223-2 was introduced) (FIG. 1).

                  TABLE 5                                                          ______________________________________                                         DNA Sequences of PCR Primers Containing                                        Introduced Eco RI site and Pst I site (5' → 3')                         ______________________________________                                          ##STR1##                                                                       ##STR2##                                                                      ______________________________________                                          *: mismatched region                                                     

To determine whether the high PFK activity of E. coli No. 58 was due to the plant PFK activity or to the PFK activity of E. coli XL1-Blue, immunotitration was performed according to the method of Kruger et al (Arch. Bioichem. Biophys. 267, 690-700, 1988).

In the immunotitration, the high PFK activity of E. coli No. 58 was not substantially reduced by anti-E. coli PFK antibody, but was significantly reduced by anti-potato PFK-c antibody (presented by Dr. Kruger, the Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford) (FIG. 2). It has been confirmed by Western blot analysis and by immunotitration that the anti-potato PFK-c antibody strongly reacts with potato PFK-c and PFK-d, but does not substantially react with E. coli PFK.

These results established that the protein expressed in E. coli No. 58 after induction by IPTG was potato PFK, and that the cDNA inserted in the plasmid pPFK32 was a potato PFK gene.

11. Comparison of Amino Acid Sequence between Potato PFK and PFKs of Other Organisms

The amino acid sequence deduced from the DNA sequence of the cDNA contained in pPFK32, which encodes potato PFK, was compared with amino acid sequences of known PFKs using a database (The Swiss Prot data bank (Release 23)). Although the amino acid sequence has not more than 30 percent identity with the reported PFKs, the homologous regions are concentrated in the binding sites of the substrate, coenzyme and of the regulatory substance which characterize PFK (Evans, P. R and Hudson, P. J. (1979) Nature, 279, 500-504) and in the vicinity thereof. The region showing significant homology is approximately 98th-321st amino acids, and little significant homology with the reported PFKs of other organisms is found in the N-terminal and C-terminal regions of 1st-97th amino acids and 322-485 amino acids, respectively. The reported eukaryotic PFKs have a duplicate structure in which a single polypeptide chain contains both a catalytic site to which F6P binds and a regulatory site to which fructose-2,6-bisphosphate binds, the regulatory site has a similar amino acid sequence to the catalytic site. It was shown that the amino acid sequence deduced from the DNA sequence of the plant PFK gene isolated by the present invention does not have such a structure. Further, there are as many as several tens of amino acids, including some with putative F6P binding sites, which are commonly conserved in the PFKs of other organisms but are not conserved in the potato PFK. These facts suggest that the plant PFK has a structure and function different from those of the reported PFKs.

It is said that there are two kinds of PFKs in plants, that is, plastidic PFK and cytoplasmic type PFK. The PFK encoded by the potato PFK cDNA according to the present invention has a N-terminal longer than the purified protein by two amino acids (Met, Gly). It is not clear whether this difference was caused by degradation during the purification or by processing performed in the cells. However, it was shown that the PFK does not have a transit peptide taking part in the transport of a polypeptide to plastids such as the amyloplast and chloroplast, so that the PFK is cytoplasmic.

12. Purification of Potato PFK Expressed in E. coli

Potato PFK was purified from E. coli No. 58, which was confirmed to express potato PFK by the following method, and its stability under low temperatures was examined. About 0.3 g of cells were suspended in an extraction buffer (100 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.0), 2 mM MgCl₂, 1 mM EDTA, 14 mM 2-mercaptoethanol, 1 mM PMSF, 1 μM leupeptin and 1 NM pepstatin) and disrupted by ultrasonication. The resultant was centrifuged at 50,000×g for 30 minutes and the supernatant was recovered. The supernatant was then applied to a Cibacron Blue agarose (type 3000-CL, Sigma) column (16×55 mm) which had been equilibrated with buffer A prepared by adding glycerol to the extraction buffer to 10% (v/v). By this operation, most of the E. coli PFK was strongly bound to the gel and most of the potato PFK was not bound to the gel, so that the latter was recovered in the flow through fraction. The thus recovered solution was then applied to a Reactive Red 120-agarose (type 3000-Cl, Sigma) column (16×110 mm) equilibrated with buffer A to adsorb the PFK on the gel. After washing the column with 25 ml of buffer A, PFK was eluted by 150 ml of buffer A having a linear gradient of 0-1.0M KCl. The fractions containing PFK activity were combined and concentrated to 3 ml by ultrafiltration (Amicon PM10 membrane). The resultant was desalted by a Biogel P-6 column (Bio-Rad) equilibrated with buffer A. Finally, the desalted sample was applied to a Mono Q column (0.5×50 mm, Pharmacia LKB) equilibrated with buffer A. After washing the column with 5 ml of buffer A, PFK was eluted by 150 ml of buffer A having a linear gradient of 0-1.0M KCl. The fractions having PFK activity were combined to obtain a purified sample. After fractionating the purified sample by urea/SDS-PAGE, the gel was stained by CBB. On the other hand, after fractionating the purified sample by urea/SDS-PAGE, the polypeptide was transferred to a nitrocellulose filter and was subjected to Western blot analysis using the anti-potato PFK-c antibody. In both analyses, a polypeptide with a molecular weight of 53 kDa was detected (FIG. 3). Thus, it was proved that the isolated PFK encodes PFK-d.

13. Confirmation of Stability at Low Temperature of Potato PFK Expressed in E. coli

Using the purified PFK thus obtained, the low temperature stability of the enzyme activity was examined in the temperature range of 0°-25° C. by the method of Hammond et al (Planta 180, 613-616, 1988). As an indicator expressing the stability of the enzyme at low temperatures, Q10 value was used. Taking the temperature along the X axis and taking the logarithm of the enzyme activity along the Y axis, an equation of

    dy/dx=0.1 log Q10

is satisfied, wherein dy/dx means the slope in the above-mentioned coordinates. The PFK expressed in E. coli, which originated from potato variety Brodick, had a Q10 value at 0° C. of as low as 2.42, which is not much larger than the Q10 value at room temperature, that is 1.66 (Table 6). The PFK encoded by the cDNA inserted in the plasmid pPFK32 had a Q10 value at 5° C. of 2.24. The Q10 value at 5° C. of E. coli PFK-1 is 2.89 (Kruger, N. J. (1989) Biochemical Society Transaction 629th Meeting, London Vol. 17, 760-761), and the Q10 values at 2°-6° C. of the PFKs in the tubers of potato variety Record, which undergoes Cold Induced Sweetening, are 3.10 (PFK III) and 4.20 (PFK IV), respectively (Hammond, J. B. W. et al. Planta (1990) 180, 613-616). Thus, it was proved that the PFK encoded by the potato PFK gene isolated in the present invention has a significantly higher cold stability than the E. coli PFK and the PFKs of the potato variety which undergoes Cold Induced Sweetening. On the other hand, ap Rees et al reported that the Q10 value at 2°-10° C. of SPS, which is the rate-determining enzyme in the sucrose synthesis pathway and which competes with PFK for the substrate F6P, is 2.25 (Plants and Temperature (ed. Long, S. P. and Woodward, F. I.) Society of Experimental Biology Seminor Series No. 42, Cambridge, U.K.; Cambridge University Press, pp.377-393). Thus, the PFK encoded by the DNA according to the present invention has cold stability comparable to that of SPS (Table 6). Therefore, by expressing the PFK gene according to the present invention under the control of a promoter which is strongly expressed in the tubers stored at a low temperature, a potato variety having low sucrose content in the tubers stored at low temperature can be developed, so that a potato variety resistant to Cold Induced Sweetening (i.e., the content of glucose and fructose is low) can be prepared.

                                      TABLE 6                                      __________________________________________________________________________     Q10 Values of Potato PFK Expressed in E. coli                                  __________________________________________________________________________     Temperature (°C.)                                                               0  1  2  5  7  10 15  20 25                                            Q10 Value                                                                              2.42                                                                              2.38                                                                              2.35                                                                              2.24                                                                              2.18                                                                              2.10                                                                              1.93                                                                               1.79                                                                              1.66                                          __________________________________________________________________________

14: Isolation of PFK Genes from Various Plants

Isolation of PFK genes from various plants was tried using the isolated potato PFK cDNA. Messenger RNAs were isolated from a callus originated from rice (variety: Tsukinohikari) immature embryo, a callus originated from maize endosperm and from green leaves of Flaveria and green leaves of radish by the method described for potato, and cDNA libraries were prepared by the following method. That is, the cDNA libraries of rice, Flaveria and radish were prepared using TimeSaver cDNA Synthesis Kit (commercially available from Pharmacia), λ ZAP II Cloning Kit (commercially available from Stratagene) and Gigapack II Gold (commercially available from Stratagene) in accordance with the manuals attached to the commercial products. The cDNA library of maize was prepared using cDNA Synthesis Kit (commercially available from Amersham) and λ gt10 cDNA Cloning Kit (commercially available from Amersham) in accordance with the manuals attached to the commercial products.

From the prepared cDNA libraries, λ phages in which PFK cDNAs were incorporated were isolated by the plaque hybridization method. In this operation, the DNA fragment of about 2 kbp obtained by digesting the above-mentioned plasmid pPFK32 with Not I was used as a probe after labelling the fragment with radioactive ³² p. From all of the cDNA libraries, positive plaques which react with this probe were obtained. As for the maize PFK cDNA, λ DNA purified by the plate lysate method was digested with Eco RI and the insert containing the PFK cDNA was subcloned into a plasmid pBluescript SK II(-) (commercially available from Stratagene). Thereafter, the DNA sequence was determined by the method described for potato PFK. As for cDNAs of other plants, the inserts were subcloned into a plasmid pBluescript SK(-) (commercially available from Stratagene) using the helper phage (ExAssist helper phage (M13)) and E. coli (SOLR strain) contained in the λ ZAP II Cloning Kit (commercially available from Stratagene) in accordance with the manual attached to the kit. Thereafter, the DNA sequence was determined by the method described for potato PFK. The nucleotide sequences of the cDNAs of Flaveria, rice, maize and radish PFKs are shown in Sequence ID Nos. 3, 5, 7 and 9, respectively, and the deduced amino acid sequences encoded by the cDNAs are shown in Sequence ID Nos. 4, 6, 8 and 10, respectively. All of the amino acid sequences of the plant PFKs showed very high homology with the amino acid sequence of the potato PFK-d (Sequence ID No. 2), while their homologies with the reported PFKs of other organisms such as bacteria, mammals and yeasts were significantly lower. The plants from which PFK genes were isolated include a wide variety of plants. That is, they include both monocotyledons (rice and maize) and dicotyledons (Flaveria, potato and radish), and include the families Gramineae (rice, maize), Compositae (Flaveria), Solanaceae (potato) and Cruciferae (radish). Thus, it was proved that the potato PFK cDNA shown in Sequence ID No. 1 can be used for isolating PFK genes of a wide variety of plants.

By comparing the amino acid sequences of the PFKs of the various plants, 13 amino acid sequences (having not less than 5 amino acid residues) which are common to all of these plants were discovered (Table 7). These amino acid sequences include those specific to plants (Sequence ID Nos. 11, 14, 21 and 22) which do not exist in the reported PFKs of other organisms. Particularly, the amino acid sequence shown in Sequence ID No. 22 is thought to correspond to the amino acid sequence (in the vicinity of Leu Gly His Val Gln Arg Gly Gly) defining the binding site of the substrate F6P and vicinity thereof (Evans, P. R. and Hudson, P. J. (1979) Nature, 279, 500-504). The amino acid sequence of the binding site and the vicinity thereof is very well conserved in other organisms (Heinisch, J. et al., (1989) Gene, 78, 309-321). However, plants do not have this amino acid sequence but have the amino acid sequence shown in Sequence ID No. 22 as a consensus sequence.

Thus, it was proved that the cDNA of potato PFK having the nucleotide sequence shown in Sequence ID No. 1 is useful as a probe for isolating the PFK genes of other plants. Further, by comparison of the amino acid sequences of PFKs of various plants, amino acid sequences which are thought to commonly exist in plants were identified (Table 7). These amino acid sequences are useful, for example, for synthethizing primers for isolating a PFK gene from a plant by the PCR method. Still further, amino acid sequences which are thought to commonly exist in PFKs of plants but not exist in PFKs of other organisms were identified. That is, by the present invention, the amino acid sequences characteristic to plants (i.e., amino acid sequences shown in Sequence ID Nos. 11, 14, 21 and 22) were first identified.

                                      TABLE 7                                      __________________________________________________________________________     Consensus Amino Acid Sequences in PFKs of Various Plants                       (Numbering corresponds to the amino acid residue number                        in Sequence ID No. 1) (SEQ ID NO:10)                                           __________________________________________________________________________     (1)                                                                               Arg                                                                               Ala                                                                               Gly                                                                               Pro                                                                               Arg                     (SEQ ID NO:11)                                    80                                                                   (2)                                                                               Ile                                                                               Val                                                                               Thr                                                                               Cys                                                                               Gly                                                                               Gly                                                                               Leu                                                                               Cys                                                                               Pro                                                                               Gly                                                                               Leu                                                                               Asn                                                                               (SEQ ID NO:12)                                         100            105                                              (3)                                                                               Gly                                                                               Tyr                                                                               Arg                                                                               Gly                                                                               Phe                     (SEQ ID NO:13)                                      135                                                                (4)                                                                               Ile                                                                               Val                                                                               Asp                                                                               Ser                                                                               Ile                                                                               Gln                  (SEQ ID NO:14)                                      175                                                                (5)                                                                               Pro                                                                               Lys                                                                               Thr                                                                               Ile                                                                               Asp                                                                               Asn                                                                               Asp                                                                               Ile            (SEQ ID NO:15)                                         220                                                             (6)                                                                               Phe                                                                               Gly                                                                               Phe                                                                               Asp                                                                               Thr                                                                               Ala                                                                               Val                                                                               Glu            (SEQ ID NO:16)                             230            235                                                          (7)                                                                               Ala                                                                               Gln                                                                               Arg                                                                               Ala                                                                               Ile                                                                               Asn                  (SEQ ID NO:17)                                240                                                                      (8)                                                                               Val                                                                               Lys                                                                               Leu                                                                               Met                                                                               Gly                                                                               Arg                  (SEQ ID NO:18)                             260            265                                                          (9)                                                                               Ser                                                                               Gly                                                                               Phe                                                                               Ile                                                                               Ala                     (SEQ ID NO:19)                                      270                                                                (10)                                                                              Ala                                                                               Glu                                                                               Gly                                                                               Ala                                                                               Gly                                                                               Gln                  (SEQ ID NO:20)                                   320                                                                   (11)                                                                              Asp                                                                               Ala                                                                               Ser                                                                               Gly                                                                               Asn                     (SEQ ID NO:21)                                   340                                                                   (12)                                                                              Leu                                                                               Lys                                                                               Tyr                                                                               Ile                                                                               Asp                                                                               Pro                                                                               Thr                                                                               Tyr                                                                               Met         (SEQ ID NO:22)                             370            375                                                          (13)                                                                              Cys                                                                               Leu                                                                               Ile                                                                               Pro                                                                               Glu                     (SEQ ID NO:23)                                285                                                                      __________________________________________________________________________

15: Construction of Plasmid Vector for Transforming Plants

To introduce the cold stable PFK gene of potato variety Brodick into a plant, a plasmid pPFK(35S) shown in FIG. 4 was prepared. The method for preparing the plasmid pPFK(35S) will now be described in detail. Firstly, a polylinker containing recognition sites of Hind III, Not I, Bgl II, Bam HI, Eco RI, Sma I, Pst I, Sst I, Bcl I, Bgl II, Not I and Eco RI in the order mentioned (commercially available from Agricultural Genetics Company, Cambridge, United Kingdom) was ligated to pUC19 preliminarily digested with Hind III and Eco RI. The obtained plasmid was named pUC19(PL). The polyadenylation signal sequence (about 0.3 kbp) of nopaline synthetase gene, which was obtained by digesting a plasmid pAPT9 (commercially available from Agricultural Genetics Company, Cambridge, United Kingdom), was ligated to pUC19(PL) preliminarily digested with Sst I and Bcl I. The obtained plasmid was named pUC19 (nos term). Then a DNA fragment of about 2.3 kbp containing a patatin promoter sequence was excised from a plasmid pBI240.7 (Bevan et al., Nucleic Acid Research 14: 4625-4638, 1986) with Bgl II and Bam HI, and this DNA fragment was ligated to pUC19 (nos term) preliminarily digested with Bgl II and Bam HI. The obtained plasmid was named pUC19(pat/nos term). Thereafter, the cold stable PFK gene (about 1.8 kbp) was excised from the above-described plasmid pKK32 with Eco RI and Pst I and ligated to pUC19(pat/nos term) preliminarily digested with Eco RI and Pst I. The obtained plasmid was named pPFK(pat). The plasmid pPFK(pat) was digested with Eco RI and the resultant was blunted with Klenow fragment of E. coli DNA polymerase I. Finally, the thus obtained plasmid was digested with Sst I and the excised cold stable PFK gene of about 1.8 kbp was ligated to a plasmid pROK2 (originating from pBin19: Baulcombe, D. et al., (1986), Nature, 321, 446-449) preliminarily digested with Sma I and Sst I. The thus obtained plasmid was named pPFK(35S) (FIG. 4) wherein the terms used therein have the following meanings:

RB,LB:right and left borders of T-DNA of Agrobacterium tumefaciens.

nosP:promoter (0.3 kb) of the nopaline synthase gene of A. tumefaciens.

NTPII:neomycin phosphotransferase gene (1.2 kb), conferring kanamycin resistance.

nosT:polyadenylation signal (0.3 kb) of the nopaline synthase of A. tumefaciens.

CaMV 35S:35S promoter (0.8 kb) from cauliflower mosaic virus.

PFKd:cold tolerant PFK gene (1.8 kb) from potato cv. Brodick.

16: Transformation of Potato

The vector plasmid pPFK(35S) shown in FIG. 4 was introduced into Agrobacterium tumefaciens LBA4404 by the electroporation method (Shen, W.-J. and Forde, B. G. (1989) Nucleic Acid Research 17, 8385), and the obtained strain was named LBA4404(35S/PFKd). The strain LBA4404(35S/PFKd) was used to transform potato variety Bintje as an example of plants. The method for the transformation will now be described in detail. Virus-free sterilized plants of potato variety Bintje were purchased from Scottish Agricultural Services Agency, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. From the purchased in vitro plants, a plurality of single nodes were aseptically cut out and each single node was cultured on a solid medium containing inorganic salts of Lismaier and Skoog's medium (hereinafter referred to as "LS medium") (Lismaier, E. and Skoog, F. (1965) Physiol. Plant, 18, 100-127), 30 g/l of sucrose and 8 g/l of agar. The stems and leaves of the plants were used for the transformation described below. That is, sections (having a length of 0.5-2.0 cm) of the stems or sections (having a length of about 0.6-1.0 cm in the longitudinal direction and about 0.5-1.0 cm in the transverse direction) of the leaves were cultured together with LBA4404(35S/PFKd) in a liquid medium containing the inorganic salts of LS medium and 30 g/l of glucose at 25° C. for 48 hours. The population density of LBA4404(35S/PFKd) at the beginning of this culture was adjusted to about 10⁸ cells/ml. After this culture, sections of the stems or leaves were washed with sterilized water containing 250 mg/l of cefotaxime several times and placed on KS1 medium reported by Kasaoka et al (Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 6-133783). Calli resistant to kanamycin emerged about 20 days after the beginning of this culture. By continuing the culture for another 10-30 days, plants were regenerated from the calli. The kanamycin-resistant plants were cut into single nodes and each of the single nodes was cultured on a solid medium containing inorganic salts of LS medium, 30 g/l of sucrose, 250 mg/l of cefotaxime, 100 mg/l of kanamycin and 8g/l of agar to grow kanamycin-resistant plants. The plants were transplanted to pots' and cultivated in a green house. As a control, non-transformed potato variety Bintje was used. The control plants were aseptically grown in test tubes in the same manner as the transformed plants and then cultivated in pots in a green house. When the transformed plants and control plants completely wilted naturally after about 4 months from the transplantation to the pots, potato tubers were harvested. The harvested tubers were stored in a cold storeroom (5°-8.5° C. or 15° C.). These tubers were used for the various analyses described below.

17: Generation of Cold Stable PFK in Transformed Potato

DNAs were extracted from the non-transformed line B40 and transformed line B75 having resistance to kanamycin by CTAB method (Doyle, J. J. and Doyle, J. L. (1987) Phytochemical Bulletin, 19, 11-15), and were subjected to Southern analysis in accordance with the method of Sambrook et al (Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual/Second Edition, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, 1989). More particularly, the DNAs were digested with Eco RI and the resulting DNA fragments were blotted on a nylon membrane. The blots were then reacted with a probe labelled with radioactive ³² p. As the probe, nos terminator region (280 bp) or the 3' flanking region (235 bp) of the cold stable PFK gene, which is excised from the above-mentioned plasmid pKK32 with Bgl I and Pst I, was used. It was confirmed that in line B75, 5 copies of the gene per tetraploid genome were introduced when any of the DNA fragments was used as the probe (data not shown).

RNAs were purified from the tubers (stored at 15° C. for 2 months) of line 40 or line B75 cultivated in pots in a green house, and the purified RNAs were subjected to Northern analysis according to the method of Sambrook et al (Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual/Second Edition, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, 1989). As the sample, 25 μg of the total RNAs was used. As the probe, the 3' flanking region (235 bp) of the cold stable PFK DNA, excised by digesting the above-described plasmid pKK32 with Bgl I and Pst I, was used after labelling the DNA with radioactive 32p. The results are shown in FIG. 5. Very strong signals were observed for the line B75 but no PFK mRNA was detected for the non-transformed line B40. From the experiences of the present inventors, it is difficult to detect the PFK mRNA in potato tubers by Northern analysis unless a purified mRNA, not the total RNAs, is used. Presumably an extremely large amount of PFK mRNA is expressed in tubers of line B75, which never occurs in normal potatoes, and such excess production of PFK mRNA is thought to be the transcript of the introduced cold stable PFK gene.

From the tubers of line B75 or line B40, which were stored at 15° C. for 2 months after harvest, crude extracts were prepared according to the method of Kruger et al (Kruger, N. J. et al., (1989) Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 267, 690-700) and subjected to Western analysis. As the antibody, the above-mentioned anti-potato PFK-c antibody was used. The results are shown in FIG. 6. Among the polypeptides which reacted specifically or non-specifically with the antibody employed, the polypeptide which was different in amount was PFK-d alone. The intensity of the bands in the Western analysis suggest that, in tubers of line B75, polypeptide PFK-d is present at 3-4 times the level in the control line B40. This is in general agreement with the results of the Northern analysis described above. However, the amount of polypeptide PFK-d in line B75 was smaller than expected from PFK poly(A)⁺ RNA detected. This is presumably because the amount of protein expressed from poly(A)⁺ RNA derived from the foreign PFK gene is not commensurate with the protein expressed from poly(A)⁺ RNA derived from the endogenous PFK genes.

From tubers (stored at 15° C. for two months after harvest) of lines B75 and B40, crude extracts were prepared according to the method of Kruger et al (Kruger, N. J. et al., (1989) Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 267, 690-700) and PFK activities were determined. One tuber was used for each measurement, and the average of three measurements is shown in Table 8. As shown in Table 8, it was confirmed that line B75 had a total PFK activity 1.3 times higher than that of line B40. The total PFK activities means the total of the activities of PFK I, II, III and IV constituted by various combinations of four polypeptides PFK-a, PFK-b, PFK-c and PFK-d reported by Kruger et al (Kruger, N. J. et al., (1989) Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 267, 690-700). By the above-described expression experiments in E. coli, it was confirmed that an active enzyme can be constructed by PFK-d alone. Assuming that the increase in the PFK activity observed in the tubers of line B75 is due to the expression of the introduced PFK-d gene, the result that the total PFK activity was increased is consistent with the result of the Western analysis.

A crude extract was prepared from a tuber (stored at 15° C. for 2 months after harvest), and PFK IV containing PFK-d was partially purified from the crude extract by using a Reactive Red 120 Agarose column (commercially available from Sigma) and a MonoQ column (commercially available from Pharmacia). The PFK activity of the partially purified PFK IV was measured at various low temperatures. The procedure of the above-described operation will now be described in detail. Firstly, a tuber having a weight of about 20 g of line B75 (stored at 15° C. for 2 months) was sliced to a thickness of about 2-5 mm and frozen in liquid nitrogen. The frozen slices were stored at -70° C. until use. All of the following operations were carried out at 4° C. In 40 ml of extraction buffer (the above-mentioned buffer A to which 2 mM benzamidine, 1 mM PMSF, 1 μM leupeptin, 1 μM pepstatin and 1% (w/v) insoluble polyvinylpyrrolidone were added), the frozen sample was sufficiently pulverized in a mortar using a pestle. The resulting extract was filtered through Miracloth and the filtrate was centrifuged at 20,000×g for 30 minutes. The supernatant was recovered and filtered (0.45 μm) and was applied to a Reactive Red 120 Agarose (Type 3000-CL, commercially available from Sigma) column (16×110 mm) to adsorb PFK. The procedure of purification from this point was the same as the above-described purification procedure of the PFK expressed in E. coli. By the MonoQ column chromatography, PFK was divided into 4 peaks and the fractions containing PFK IV were collected. The PFK activity was measured at various temperatures and Q10 values were determined. The results are shown in Table 9. The partially purified PFK IV was very stable at low temperatures, and the Q10 values were within the range between 1.9 and 2.0 at any temperature from 0°-25° C. The Q10 values of the PFKs purified from E. coli No. 58 strain are shown in Table 6. By comparing the results shown in Tables 6 and 9, it is seen that the PFK IV expressed in line B75 was more stable than the PFK expressed in E. coli, in spite of the fact that the same gene was introduced into both of them. Further, although the PFK gene introduced into line B75 was isolated from potato variety Brodick, it was more stable to cold temperature than PFK IV of the potato variety Brodick reported by Hammond et al (Hammond, J. B. W. et al., (1990) Planta., 180, 613-616). Based on the fact that 2/3 to 3/4 of the PFK-d expressed in line B75 originated from the introduced gene judging from the Western analysis, and that PFK IV mainly contains PFK-d as reported by Kruger et al (Kruger, N. J. et al., (1989) Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 267, 690-700), it is thought that the cold stability of PFK IV of line B75 is brought about by the introduced gene.

Thus, the gene which was confirmed to express in E. coli was introduced into potato using the vector plasmid shown in FIG. 4. As a result, it was confirmed that the introduced gene was expressed in line B75 and that PFK IV of line B75 had cold stability.

                  TABLE 8                                                          ______________________________________                                         Total PFK Activity of Tubers of Line B75                                       Line        PFK Activity (nmol/min/g, FW)                                      ______________________________________                                         B40 (control)                                                                              108.4                                                              B75         141.4                                                              ______________________________________                                    

                  TABLE 9                                                          ______________________________________                                         Q10 Value of PFK IV Partially Purified from Tubers of                          Line B75                                                                       ______________________________________                                         Temperature (°C.)                                                                 2      5      7    10   15    20   25                                Q10 Values                                                                               1.91   1.92   1.92 1.93 1.94  1.95 1.96                              ______________________________________                                    

18: Change in Sugar Content of Potato Tubers Stored at

Low Temperature, to Which Cold Stable PFK Gene was Introduced, and Change in Color of Potato Chips Produced from the Tubers

The sugar content of tubers of lines B75 and B40 stored at a low temperature (5°-8.5° C.), and the color of potato chips produced from the tubers were examined. The results are shown in Table 10. The glucose content was determined by using a commercially available test paper for measuring glucose in urine (Testape, commercially available from Shionogi & Co., Ltd.). More particularly, a spatula was inserted into a tuber to form a groove with a depth of about 5 mm. The test paper was inserted into this groove, and the glucose content was measured by comparing the color of the test paper with the color scale attached to the container of the test paper. The scores 0, +, ++, +++ and ++++ shown in the color scale attached to the container correspond to glucose concentrations of 0%, 0.1%, 0.25%, 0.5% and 2% or more, respectively. In Table 10, scores 0, +, ++, +++ and ++++ are expressed as values 0, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 and 4.0, respectively. The values shown in Table 10 are averages of the measured values of 5 tubers. The smaller the value, the smaller the glucose content in the tuber. As shown in Table 10, it was confirmed that the glucose content in the tuber of line B75 stored at a low temperature for 4 weeks was smaller than that of line B40.

It is known that there is a strong correlation between the glucose content of a tuber and the color of the potato chips produced therefrom (Gray, D. and Hughes, J. C. (1978), The Potato Crop (ed. P. M. Harris), Chapman & Hall, London, pp.504-544). Thus, potato chips were produced from tubers of lines B75 and B40 stored at a low temperature (for 2 weeks, 4 weeks and 12 weeks) and the degree of browning was compared. More particularly, the tubers were sliced using a commercially available slicer and the slices were fried in an edible oil (mixture of rapeseed oil and soybean oil) at 180° C. for about 3 to 4 minutes until bubbles were no longer formed. Three potato chips from each of 5 tubers, totally 15 chips, per one line per one test were produced and the color of each potato chip was compared with color cards for potato chips (prepared by The Institute for Storage and Processing of Agricultural Produce, Wageningen, The Netherlands). The degree of browning is expressed in terms of the score described in the color card. The lower the score, the darker the fly color. The results are shown in Table 10. Each score is the average of 15 potato chips. The potato chips made from tubers of line B75 exhibited a lower degree of browning than those produced from line B40 irrespective of the duration of storage.

As described above, it was proved that the glucose content in the tubers stored at a low temperature can be decreased and, in turn, the degree of browning of potato chips can be decreased by transforming a potato plant using the vector plasmid shown in FIG. 4 and expressing the cold stable PFK in the tubers.

                  TABLE 10                                                         ______________________________________                                         Glucose Content in Tubers of Line B75 in Which Cold                            Stable PFK was Expressed and Color of Potato Chips                             Produced from the Tubers                                                               Glucose Content                                                                            Potato Chip Color                                                  (color score)                                                                              (color card score)                                                 Duration of Storage                                                                        Duration of Storage                                                after Harvest                                                                              after Harvest                                                      (weeks)     (weeks)                                                            0     4         0     2     4    12                                    ______________________________________                                         B40 (control)                                                                            1.0     2.6       7.0 4.0   2.6  2.3                                 B75       1.0     1.2       7.0 5.5   3.7  3.5                                 ______________________________________                                    

    __________________________________________________________________________     SEQUENCE LISTING                                                               (1) GENERAL INFORMATION:                                                       (iii) NUMBER OF SEQUENCES: 23                                                  (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:1:                                               (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 1978 base pairs                                                    (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                         (C) STRANDEDNESS: double                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: cDNA to mRNA                                               (ix) FEATURE:                                                                  (A) NAME/KEY: CDS                                                              (B) LOCATION: 133..1587                                                        (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:1:                                        CTCTTTTCTTGGGTTGACTCAAATTTAACATATATATGTATTTTTTTGTTTTTGTGATTC60                 TGTTTTCAGATACCCTTTTGAATTTCCATTGAGAAAGTTGGAATCTTTTTTGTTTTTATA120                TATTTGGGGAAGATGGGTACTGAGAGTAATTACCAGATGAAGGTGGTG168                            MetGlyThrGluSerAsnTyrGlnMetLysValVal                                           1510                                                                           AAAGGAGATTATGGCTATGTTCTTGAAGATGTTCCTCATTTGACTGAT216                            LysGlyAspTyrGlyTyrValLeuGluAspValProHisLeuThrAsp                               152025                                                                         TATATCCCTGATCTTCCTACTTATGACAATCCATTGCGGTCCAATCCT264                            TyrIleProAspLeuProThrTyrAspAsnProLeuArgSerAsnPro                               303540                                                                         GCATATTCAGTTGTGAAGCAGTACTTTGTTGACATGGATGATACTGTC312                            AlaTyrSerValValLysGlnTyrPheValAspMetAspAspThrVal                               45505560                                                                       CCCCAAAAGGTTGTTGTTCACAAGGACAGTCCCAGAGGGGTGCATTTC360                            ProGlnLysValValValHisLysAspSerProArgGlyValHisPhe                               657075                                                                         CGGCGTGCTGGTCCACGTCAGAAGGTGTATTTCAGTTCGGATGATGTT408                            ArgArgAlaGlyProArgGlnLysValTyrPheSerSerAspAspVal                               808590                                                                         CGTGCTTGTATTGTAACTTGTGGTGGTTTGTGCCCTGGGCTAAACACA456                            ArgAlaCysIleValThrCysGlyGlyLeuCysProGlyLeuAsnThr                               95100105                                                                       GTGATCAGAGAGATTGTACATAGCCTCGATTATATGTATGGAGTCAAC504                            ValIleArgGluIleValHisSerLeuAspTyrMetTyrGlyValAsn                               110115120                                                                      AAAGTCTTTGGTATCGATGGAGGCTACAGGGGTTTCTATTCCAAGAAT552                            LysValPheGlyIleAspGlyGlyTyrArgGlyPheTyrSerLysAsn                               125130135140                                                                   ATCATCAATTTGACACCAAAGACTGTTAATGACATTCATAAACGTGGT600                            IleIleAsnLeuThrProLysThrValAsnAspIleHisLysArgGly                               145150155                                                                      GGTACAATTCTTGGATCATCACGAGGAGGCCATGATACCACAAAGATT648                            GlyThrIleLeuGlySerSerArgGlyGlyHisAspThrThrLysIle                               160165170                                                                      GTTGACAGCATACAGGACCGTGAAATTAATCAGGTATATATAATCGGT696                            ValAspSerIleGlnAspArgGluIleAsnGlnValTyrIleIleGly                               175180185                                                                      GGTGATGGAACTCAGAAAGGAGCAGCTGTAATATATGAGGAAATCAGG744                            GlyAspGlyThrGlnLysGlyAlaAlaValIleTyrGluGluIleArg                               190195200                                                                      CGGCGTGGTCTCAAAGTAATTGTTGCTGGGATCCCAAAGACAATTGAT792                            ArgArgGlyLeuLysValIleValAlaGlyIleProLysThrIleAsp                               205210215220                                                                   AATGATATCCCTGTTATCGACAAGTCATTTGGTTTTGATACTGCTGTA840                            AsnAspIleProValIleAspLysSerPheGlyPheAspThrAlaVal                               225230235                                                                      GAGGAGGCTCAACGTGCCATAAATGCAGCTCATGTTGAAGCTGAAAGT888                            GluGluAlaGlnArgAlaIleAsnAlaAlaHisValGluAlaGluSer                               240245250                                                                      GCTGAAAATGGTATTGGTGTGGTGAAGCTAATGGGACGCTATAGTGGA936                            AlaGluAsnGlyIleGlyValValLysLeuMetGlyArgTyrSerGly                               255260265                                                                      TTCATCGCAATGTATGCCACTTTGGCGAGCAGAGATGTTGATCTCTGT984                            PheIleAlaMetTyrAlaThrLeuAlaSerArgAspValAspLeuCys                               270275280                                                                      TTAATTCCAGAGTCACCCTTTTATCTTGAAGGAGATGGTGGACTCTTT1032                           LeuIleProGluSerProPheTyrLeuGluGlyAspGlyGlyLeuPhe                               285290295300                                                                   GAATACATTGAAAAAAGGCTCAAAGAAAATGGGCACATGGTTATTGTG1080                           GluTyrIleGluLysArgLeuLysGluAsnGlyHisMetValIleVal                               305310315                                                                      ATAGCCGAAGGAGCAGGGCAAGAACTTCTTGCAGAAGAGAATGCGCAT1128                           IleAlaGluGlyAlaGlyGlnGluLeuLeuAlaGluGluAsnAlaHis                               320325330                                                                      GCCAAAAACGAACAAGATGCTTCGGGGAACAAGCTTCTCCAGGATGTT1176                           AlaLysAsnGluGlnAspAlaSerGlyAsnLysLeuLeuGlnAspVal                               335340345                                                                      GGTTTGTGGATTTCCCAAAAAATCAGGGATCATTTTGCTACAAAAACT1224                           GlyLeuTrpIleSerGlnLysIleArgAspHisPheAlaThrLysThr                               350355360                                                                      AAGATGCCCATTACTCTTAAGTATATAGATCCGACTTACATGATTCGT1272                           LysMetProIleThrLeuLysTyrIleAspProThrTyrMetIleArg                               365370375380                                                                   GCTGTTCCAAGTAATGCCTCTGATAATGTATATTGCACTCTTCTTGCT1320                           AlaValProSerAsnAlaSerAspAsnValTyrCysThrLeuLeuAla                               385390395                                                                      CAAAGTTGTGTTCATGGAGCAATGGCAGGCTACACAGGTTTCACCTCA1368                           GlnSerCysValHisGlyAlaMetAlaGlyTyrThrGlyPheThrSer                               400405410                                                                      GGACTTGTCAATGGTCGCCAGACTTATATACCATTCAATCGTATTACC1416                           GlyLeuValAsnGlyArgGlnThrTyrIleProPheAsnArgIleThr                               415420425                                                                      GAGAAACAAAATATGGTGGTTATAACTGACAGGATGTGGGCACGTCTT1464                           GluLysGlnAsnMetValValIleThrAspArgMetTrpAlaArgLeu                               430435440                                                                      CTTTCGTCAACCAATCAGCCAAGCTTCTTGCGCGTGAAAGACATTGAA1512                           LeuSerSerThrAsnGlnProSerPheLeuArgValLysAspIleGlu                               445450455460                                                                   GAGATTAAAAAGGAGGAGCAGCCGCAAACTCAACTGTTGGATGGGGAT1560                           GluIleLysLysGluGluGlnProGlnThrGlnLeuLeuAspGlyAsp                               465470475                                                                      AACAATGTACATGAGAACTCAGGTCACTGATACAGTAATTACGAACT1607                            AsnAsnValHisGluAsnSerGlyHis                                                    480485                                                                         TGGCGTGACACACTGAAGTAACTCTGTTGTAATCATTTGCCTGTGCAGTGGTTCTCTTGT1667               TGTCTTTGAAGCTTTTGCTGCTTACCATTGTGCCTTATAAAAACAGTCCTAGGAACTTAT1727               TTGTTGAAGGTTTTGGGATCTTCTGCATCAGATGTTGGCAGTAGTAACAGATATATTTCT1787               GCCTAATTCATCTAGAGTCCTAATTTCTTGAAGTGAAATTAGACATCTTTTTATAAAATA1847               TTTTGTAATAAATTTAAATAGTGAGAACATTTGCTATGCACATAAATGATGAACTCTGTG1907               TGGCTGGATGGTCTTTTGAGATCTAAAATAGTCCAAGATTTTGGCAGAAATCAGAAGTAG1967               AGGCAGACTTT1978                                                                (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:2:                                               (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 485 amino acids                                                    (B) TYPE: amino acid                                                           (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: protein                                                    (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:2:                                        MetGlyThrGluSerAsnTyrGlnMetLysValValLysGlyAspTyr                               151015                                                                         GlyTyrValLeuGluAspValProHisLeuThrAspTyrIleProAsp                               202530                                                                         LeuProThrTyrAspAsnProLeuArgSerAsnProAlaTyrSerVal                               354045                                                                         ValLysGlnTyrPheValAspMetAspAspThrValProGlnLysVal                               505560                                                                         ValValHisLysAspSerProArgGlyValHisPheArgArgAlaGly                               65707580                                                                       ProArgGlnLysValTyrPheSerSerAspAspValArgAlaCysIle                               859095                                                                         ValThrCysGlyGlyLeuCysProGlyLeuAsnThrValIleArgGlu                               100105110                                                                      IleValHisSerLeuAspTyrMetTyrGlyValAsnLysValPheGly                               115120125                                                                      IleAspGlyGlyTyrArgGlyPheTyrSerLysAsnIleIleAsnLeu                               130135140                                                                      ThrProLysThrValAsnAspIleHisLysArgGlyGlyThrIleLeu                               145150155160                                                                   GlySerSerArgGlyGlyHisAspThrThrLysIleValAspSerIle                               165170175                                                                      GlnAspArgGluIleAsnGlnValTyrIleIleGlyGlyAspGlyThr                               180185190                                                                      GlnLysGlyAlaAlaValIleTyrGluGluIleArgArgArgGlyLeu                               195200205                                                                      LysValIleValAlaGlyIleProLysThrIleAspAsnAspIlePro                               210215220                                                                      ValIleAspLysSerPheGlyPheAspThrAlaValGluGluAlaGln                               225230235240                                                                   ArgAlaIleAsnAlaAlaHisValGluAlaGluSerAlaGluAsnGly                               245250255                                                                      IleGlyValValLysLeuMetGlyArgTyrSerGlyPheIleAlaMet                               260265270                                                                      TyrAlaThrLeuAlaSerArgAspValAspLeuCysLeuIleProGlu                               275280285                                                                      SerProPheTyrLeuGluGlyAspGlyGlyLeuPheGluTyrIleGlu                               290295300                                                                      LysArgLeuLysGluAsnGlyHisMetValIleValIleAlaGluGly                               305310315320                                                                   AlaGlyGlnGluLeuLeuAlaGluGluAsnAlaHisAlaLysAsnGlu                               325330335                                                                      GlnAspAlaSerGlyAsnLysLeuLeuGlnAspValGlyLeuTrpIle                               340345350                                                                      SerGlnLysIleArgAspHisPheAlaThrLysThrLysMetProIle                               355360365                                                                      ThrLeuLysTyrIleAspProThrTyrMetIleArgAlaValProSer                               370375380                                                                      AsnAlaSerAspAsnValTyrCysThrLeuLeuAlaGlnSerCysVal                               385390395400                                                                   HisGlyAlaMetAlaGlyTyrThrGlyPheThrSerGlyLeuValAsn                               405410415                                                                      GlyArgGlnThrTyrIleProPheAsnArgIleThrGluLysGlnAsn                               420425430                                                                      MetValValIleThrAspArgMetTrpAlaArgLeuLeuSerSerThr                               435440445                                                                      AsnGlnProSerPheLeuArgValLysAspIleGluGluIleLysLys                               450455460                                                                      GluGluGlnProGlnThrGlnLeuLeuAspGlyAspAsnAsnValHis                               465470475480                                                                   GluAsnSerGlyHis                                                                485                                                                            (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:3:                                               (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 1778 base pairs                                                    (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                         (C) STRANDEDNESS: double                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: cDNA to mRNA                                               (ix) FEATURE:                                                                  (A) NAME/KEY: CDS                                                              (B) LOCATION: 19..1467                                                         (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:3:                                        GTTAACAAGGGGGAAGTTATGGATAATAACATCAGTTGTGAGATGAAAGTT51                          MetAspAsnAsnIleSerCysGluMetLysVal                                              1510                                                                           GAAACAGGGGATGCAGGCTATGTGCTTGAAGATGTGCCTCACATAACT99                             GluThrGlyAspAlaGlyTyrValLeuGluAspValProHisIleThr                               152025                                                                         GATTACATCCCTAATCTCCCTACCTATCCTAATCCATTGCGTTCTAAT147                            AspTyrIleProAsnLeuProThrTyrProAsnProLeuArgSerAsn                               303540                                                                         CCTGCATATTCGGTTGTGAAGCAGTACTTTGTTGATGCGGATGATACC195                            ProAlaTyrSerValValLysGlnTyrPheValAspAlaAspAspThr                               455055                                                                         GTGCCTCAAAAGGTTGTTGTACACAAGGACGGTCCAAGAGGAATACAC243                            ValProGlnLysValValValHisLysAspGlyProArgGlyIleHis                               60657075                                                                       TTTCGACGTGCTGGTCCTCGTCAAAGGGTTTATTTTGCACCAGATGAA291                            PheArgArgAlaGlyProArgGlnArgValTyrPheAlaProAspGlu                               808590                                                                         GTGCATGCTGCTATAGTAACATGTGGTGGTTTATGTCCTGGGCTAAAC339                            ValHisAlaAlaIleValThrCysGlyGlyLeuCysProGlyLeuAsn                               95100105                                                                       ACAGTGATCAGGGAAATTGTTTGCGCACTTTATCACATGTATGGTGTC387                            ThrValIleArgGluIleValCysAlaLeuTyrHisMetTyrGlyVal                               110115120                                                                      ACCAAAGTTCTTGGGATTGATGGAGGGTACAGAGGTTTTTACTCAAAA435                            ThrLysValLeuGlyIleAspGlyGlyTyrArgGlyPheTyrSerLys                               125130135                                                                      AACACCATCACTTTGACTCCAAAGGTTGTGAATGACATCCATAAACGT483                            AsnThrIleThrLeuThrProLysValValAsnAspIleHisLysArg                               140145150155                                                                   GGTGGTACAATTATTGGCACCTCTCGTGGGGGCCATGATAAACCAAAG531                            GlyGlyThrIleIleGlyThrSerArgGlyGlyHisAspLysProLys                               160165170                                                                      ATAGTTGACAGTATTCAGGATCGTGGTATCAATCAGGTTTATATAATT579                            IleValAspSerIleGlnAspArgGlyIleAsnGlnValTyrIleIle                               175180185                                                                      GGAGGAGACGGTACTCAAAAGGGAGCAGCTGTTATTTATCAGGAAGTG627                            GlyGlyAspGlyThrGlnLysGlyAlaAlaValIleTyrGlnGluVal                               190195200                                                                      AGAAGGCGTGGGCTTAAAGCTGTAGTGGCTGGGATTCCTAAGACAATT675                            ArgArgArgGlyLeuLysAlaValValAlaGlyIleProLysThrIle                               205210215                                                                      GATAATGACATTCCGGTCATTGATAAGTCTTTTGGTTTTGACACGGCT723                            AspAsnAspIleProValIleAspLysSerPheGlyPheAspThrAla                               220225230235                                                                   GTGGAAGAGGCTCAACGTGCCATTAATGCTGCACATGTGGAGGCTGAA771                            ValGluGluAlaGlnArgAlaIleAsnAlaAlaHisValGluAlaGlu                               240245250                                                                      AGTGCTGAGAATGGCATAGGGGTGGTCAAACTTATGGGACGCTATAGT819                            SerAlaGluAsnGlyIleGlyValValLysLeuMetGlyArgTyrSer                               255260265                                                                      GGATTCATCGCAATGTATGCAACTTTGGCTAGTCGAGATGTTGATTTA867                            GlyPheIleAlaMetTyrAlaThrLeuAlaSerArgAspValAspLeu                               270275280                                                                      TGTTTAATTCCTGAATCACCTTTTTATCTTGAGGGAGAAGGTGGACTT915                            CysLeuIleProGluSerProPheTyrLeuGluGlyGluGlyGlyLeu                               285290295                                                                      TTAGAATATGTAGAAAAACGTCTCAAGGACGATGGACACATGGTCATC963                            LeuGluTyrValGluLysArgLeuLysAspAspGlyHisMetValIle                               300305310315                                                                   GTTGTAGCAGAAGGTGCTGGTCAGGAGCTGCTTGCAGCAGAAAACTTG1011                           ValValAlaGluGlyAlaGlyGlnGluLeuLeuAlaAlaGluAsnLeu                               320325330                                                                      AAAACTTCAACCGCAAAAGATGCTTCTGGAAATAAACTACTTCACGAT1059                           LysThrSerThrAlaLysAspAlaSerGlyAsnLysLeuLeuHisAsp                               335340345                                                                      GTCGGATTGTGGATTTCTGATAAGATTAAGGCTCACTTTGCTAAAATT1107                           ValGlyLeuTrpIleSerAspLysIleLysAlaHisPheAlaLysIle                               350355360                                                                      CCTCCCATGCCTATTACTCTCAAATACATAGATCCAACTTACATGATC1155                           ProProMetProIleThrLeuLysTyrIleAspProThrTyrMetIle                               365370375                                                                      CGTGCGGTTCCAAGTAATGCATCTGATAATGTATACTGCACTCTCCTT1203                           ArgAlaValProSerAsnAlaSerAspAsnValTyrCysThrLeuLeu                               380385390395                                                                   GCTCAAAGTTGTGTTCATGGAGTGATGGCGGGCTACACCGGCTTCACA1251                           AlaGlnSerCysValHisGlyValMetAlaGlyTyrThrGlyPheThr                               400405410                                                                      AGTGGGCTTGTCAATGGTAGACAGACTTATATTCCATTTAATCGTATC1299                           SerGlyLeuValAsnGlyArgGlnThrTyrIleProPheAsnArgIle                               415420425                                                                      ACTGAGAAGCAGAATAACGTTGTGATAACCGATAGGATGTGGGCAAGG1347                           ThrGluLysGlnAsnAsnValValIleThrAspArgMetTrpAlaArg                               430435440                                                                      CTTCTGTCATCCACCAACCAACCAAGCTTTTTGCGACCCCAAGACGTT1395                           LeuLeuSerSerThrAsnGlnProSerPheLeuArgProGlnAspVal                               445450455                                                                      ATTGAAGTCCAGAAACAAGAAGAACCACCAAGTCAGTTATTGGATGGA1443                           IleGluValGlnLysGlnGluGluProProSerGlnLeuLeuAspGly                               460465470475                                                                   GACAGCAGCAAGCCAAATGACATCTAAATCTATAAATTAAGAATATTCGCCATT1497                     AspSerSerLysProAsnAspIle                                                       480                                                                            TTAATGCACAAAAATAATAGCACTGCAAATTTGGTTTTGTGGATGCAATTCATCATGTTT1557               TTGCAGAATTTTCAAGATAAAGTTGCTTATTCTTGACTGGATTGATCATGGATTTAAGTC1617               TCTTTGCAGGAATGAATTTTCCTCCAAAAAAAGAAACTGCATAAAACCTAGTTTTGTTGT1677               GTTGGGATCAAGCTATTGGTAGTCAAGTTAGAAAGTTTAAGCTGCAGTTTGTAATTGTTT1737               GTGTTTGTTGGGTTAAGTGGCTTTGTTCATCAGAAAAAAAA1778                                  (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:4:                                               (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 483 amino acids                                                    (B) TYPE: amino acid                                                           (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: protein                                                    (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:4:                                        MetAspAsnAsnIleSerCysGluMetLysValGluThrGlyAspAla                               151015                                                                         GlyTyrValLeuGluAspValProHisIleThrAspTyrIleProAsn                               202530                                                                         LeuProThrTyrProAsnProLeuArgSerAsnProAlaTyrSerVal                               354045                                                                         ValLysGlnTyrPheValAspAlaAspAspThrValProGlnLysVal                               505560                                                                         ValValHisLysAspGlyProArgGlyIleHisPheArgArgAlaGly                               65707580                                                                       ProArgGlnArgValTyrPheAlaProAspGluValHisAlaAlaIle                               859095                                                                         ValThrCysGlyGlyLeuCysProGlyLeuAsnThrValIleArgGlu                               100105110                                                                      IleValCysAlaLeuTyrHisMetTyrGlyValThrLysValLeuGly                               115120125                                                                      IleAspGlyGlyTyrArgGlyPheTyrSerLysAsnThrIleThrLeu                               130135140                                                                      ThrProLysValValAsnAspIleHisLysArgGlyGlyThrIleIle                               145150155160                                                                   GlyThrSerArgGlyGlyHisAspLysProLysIleValAspSerIle                               165170175                                                                      GlnAspArgGlyIleAsnGlnValTyrIleIleGlyGlyAspGlyThr                               180185190                                                                      GlnLysGlyAlaAlaValIleTyrGlnGluValArgArgArgGlyLeu                               195200205                                                                      LysAlaValValAlaGlyIleProLysThrIleAspAsnAspIlePro                               210215220                                                                      ValIleAspLysSerPheGlyPheAspThrAlaValGluGluAlaGln                               225230235240                                                                   ArgAlaIleAsnAlaAlaHisValGluAlaGluSerAlaGluAsnGly                               245250255                                                                      IleGlyValValLysLeuMetGlyArgTyrSerGlyPheIleAlaMet                               260265270                                                                      TyrAlaThrLeuAlaSerArgAspValAspLeuCysLeuIleProGlu                               275280285                                                                      SerProPheTyrLeuGluGlyGluGlyGlyLeuLeuGluTyrValGlu                               290295300                                                                      LysArgLeuLysAspAspGlyHisMetValIleValValAlaGluGly                               305310315320                                                                   AlaGlyGlnGluLeuLeuAlaAlaGluAsnLeuLysThrSerThrAla                               325330335                                                                      LysAspAlaSerGlyAsnLysLeuLeuHisAspValGlyLeuTrpIle                               340345350                                                                      SerAspLysIleLysAlaHisPheAlaLysIleProProMetProIle                               355360365                                                                      ThrLeuLysTyrIleAspProThrTyrMetIleArgAlaValProSer                               370375380                                                                      AsnAlaSerAspAsnValTyrCysThrLeuLeuAlaGlnSerCysVal                               385390395400                                                                   HisGlyValMetAlaGlyTyrThrGlyPheThrSerGlyLeuValAsn                               405410415                                                                      GlyArgGlnThrTyrIleProPheAsnArgIleThrGluLysGlnAsn                               420425430                                                                      AsnValValIleThrAspArgMetTrpAlaArgLeuLeuSerSerThr                               435440445                                                                      AsnGlnProSerPheLeuArgProGlnAspValIleGluValGlnLys                               450455460                                                                      GlnGluGluProProSerGlnLeuLeuAspGlyAspSerSerLysPro                               465470475480                                                                   AsnAspIle                                                                      (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:5:                                               (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 1624 base pairs                                                    (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                         (C) STRANDEDNESS: double                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: cDNA to mRNA                                               (ix) FEATURE:                                                                  (A) NAME/KEY: CDS                                                              (B) LOCATION: 3..1409                                                          (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:5:                                        TGGTAGTCGCACACATGCGGCACGTCCTCGATCTACCGACATACTCA47                              ValValAlaHisMetArgHisValLeuAspLeuProThrTyrSer                                  151015                                                                         AATCCACTGCAAGATAACCCGGCATACTCGGTTGTGAAGCAATACTTT95                             AsnProLeuGlnAspAsnProAlaTyrSerValValLysGlnTyrPhe                               202530                                                                         GTAAACCCAGATGACACTGTCTGCCAGAAGGCCATTGTTCACAAGGAT143                            ValAsnProAspAspThrValCysGlnLysAlaIleValHisLysAsp                               354045                                                                         GGCCCTAGAGGCAACCACTTCCGTCGTGCTGGGCCTCGACAGAGGGTG191                            GlyProArgGlyAsnHisPheArgArgAlaGlyProArgGlnArgVal                               505560                                                                         TTTTTTGAATCGGATGAGGTCCATGCATGCATTGTCACATGTGGAGGA239                            PhePheGluSerAspGluValHisAlaCysIleValThrCysGlyGly                               657075                                                                         CTGTGCCCTGGACTGAACACTGTCATTAGGGAAATTGTTTGTGGCCTA287                            LeuCysProGlyLeuAsnThrValIleArgGluIleValCysGlyLeu                               80859095                                                                       AATGACATGTATGGTGTCAGTAGGGTACTTGGAATTCAGGGTGGGTAT335                            AsnAspMetTyrGlyValSerArgValLeuGlyIleGlnGlyGlyTyr                               100105110                                                                      AGAGGTTTCTATGCTTGTAACACCATTGACTTGAGTCCAAAGAGTGTA383                            ArgGlyPheTyrAlaCysAsnThrIleAspLeuSerProLysSerVal                               115120125                                                                      AACGACAATCACAAAAGGGGTGGAACTGTTCTTGGGACATCACGTGGA431                            AsnAspAsnHisLysArgGlyGlyThrValLeuGlyThrSerArgGly                               130135140                                                                      GGCCATGACACCATGAAGATTGTTGACAGCATCCAGGATCGTGGTATA479                            GlyHisAspThrMetLysIleValAspSerIleGlnAspArgGlyIle                               145150155                                                                      AATCAGGTTTATGTAATTGGTGGTGATGGTACTCAAAGGGGTGCAGGA527                            AsnGlnValTyrValIleGlyGlyAspGlyThrGlnArgGlyAlaGly                               160165170175                                                                   GTGATTTTTGAAGAGATTAGAAGACGTGGTCTCAAGGTTGCTGTTGCT575                            ValIlePheGluGluIleArgArgArgGlyLeuLysValAlaValAla                               180185190                                                                      GGCATTCCAAAGACGATTGATAATGATATACCAGTAATTGACAGATCA623                            GlyIleProLysThrIleAspAsnAspIleProValIleAspArgSer                               195200205                                                                      TTTGGTTTCGACACTGCAGTTGAGGAGGCCCAACGTGCAATAAATGCT671                            PheGlyPheAspThrAlaValGluGluAlaGlnArgAlaIleAsnAla                               210215220                                                                      GCTCATGTAGAAGCTGGAAGCGCCGAGAATGGTATAGGCCTCGTAAAG719                            AlaHisValGluAlaGlySerAlaGluAsnGlyIleGlyLeuValLys                               225230235                                                                      CTAATGGGTCGACACAGTGGTTTTATTGCACACTATGCTACTCTAGCC767                            LeuMetGlyArgHisSerGlyPheIleAlaHisTyrAlaThrLeuAla                               240245250255                                                                   AGCAGAGACGTGGATTGTTGTTTGATTCCAGAGTCACCTTTCTATCTG815                            SerArgAspValAspCysCysLeuIleProGluSerProPheTyrLeu                               260265270                                                                      GAAGGTGAAGGTGGCCTTTTTAGATATTTGGAAAAGCGTCTGAAGGAG863                            GluGlyGluGlyGlyLeuPheArgTyrLeuGluLysArgLeuLysGlu                               275280285                                                                      AATGGTCATATGGTTATCGTTGTTGCGGAGGGTGCAGGGCAGAAACTT911                            AsnGlyHisMetValIleValValAlaGluGlyAlaGlyGlnLysLeu                               290295300                                                                      ATTAATGAAACAAAGGAATCAATGGGGAAAGATGCTTCAGGCAATTCG959                            IleAsnGluThrLysGluSerMetGlyLysAspAlaSerGlyAsnSer                               305310315                                                                      ATTCTTCTTGATGTTGGTCTTTGGTTATCTCAAAAGATAAAAGAGCAT1007                           IleLeuLeuAspValGlyLeuTrpLeuSerGlnLysIleLysGluHis                               320325330335                                                                   TTCAAGAAAATCAAGACTACTATAAATCTCAAGTATATAGATCCTACA1055                           PheLysLysIleLysThrThrIleAsnLeuLysTyrIleAspProThr                               340345350                                                                      TACATGATACGTGCCATTCCTAGCAATGCATCTGACAATGTGTATTGC1103                           TyrMetIleArgAlaIleProSerAsnAlaSerAspAsnValTyrCys                               355360365                                                                      ACACTGTTGGCACACAGGGTGGTTCATGGAGCCATGGCTGGATACACT1151                           ThrLeuLeuAlaHisArgValValHisGlyAlaMetAlaGlyTyrThr                               370375380                                                                      GGTTTCACTGTTGGCCAAGTAAATGGTCGGCATTGCTATATCCCGTTT1199                           GlyPheThrValGlyGlnValAsnGlyArgHisCysTyrIleProPhe                               385390395                                                                      TACAGGATCACAGAGAAGCAGAACAAAGTTTCAATTACTGATAGGATG1247                           TyrArgIleThrGluLysGlnAsnLysValSerIleThrAspArgMet                               400405410415                                                                   TGGGCAAGACTTCTCTCCTCAACCAACCAGCCAAGTTTCCTCAGCAAG1295                           TrpAlaArgLeuLeuSerSerThrAsnGlnProSerPheLeuSerLys                               420425430                                                                      AAAGATGTGGAGGACGCAAAGATGGAAGAAGAGAGAGCATCCAAGTTT1343                           LysAspValGluAspAlaLysMetGluGluGluArgAlaSerLysPhe                               435440445                                                                      TTCGATGGCCCGCCTCCCAACCCCAAGGTTGAAGACAAAGTCGCTTCC1391                           PheAspGlyProProProAsnProLysValGluAspLysValAlaSer                               450455460                                                                      AATGGCAAGGCTGTGAAGTGAGGCAGAAGGCTACTGATCTATTATGTG1439                           AsnGlyLysAlaValLys                                                             465                                                                            CAGATGGATTAATTATTACTCAATAATGTCAGTAATCTATCTATGGCTAGTGAGATGGAT1499               TAGTAAATAATATTAGTATATCTATGGCAAGTGATGCTCAGCTCTTCCTGTCCAAATTAA1559               AATGCCGAGAATAGATCTCCTCTAGCAGGTTATCGTCATTATATTTAAAAAAAAAAAAAA1619               AAAAA1624                                                                      (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:6:                                               (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 469 amino acids                                                    (B) TYPE: amino acid                                                           (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: protein                                                    (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:6:                                        ValValAlaHisMetArgHisValLeuAspLeuProThrTyrSerAsn                               151015                                                                         ProLeuGlnAspAsnProAlaTyrSerValValLysGlnTyrPheVal                               202530                                                                         AsnProAspAspThrValCysGlnLysAlaIleValHisLysAspGly                               354045                                                                         ProArgGlyAsnHisPheArgArgAlaGlyProArgGlnArgValPhe                               505560                                                                         PheGluSerAspGluValHisAlaCysIleValThrCysGlyGlyLeu                               65707580                                                                       CysProGlyLeuAsnThrValIleArgGluIleValCysGlyLeuAsn                               859095                                                                         AspMetTyrGlyValSerArgValLeuGlyIleGlnGlyGlyTyrArg                               100105110                                                                      GlyPheTyrAlaCysAsnThrIleAspLeuSerProLysSerValAsn                               115120125                                                                      AspAsnHisLysArgGlyGlyThrValLeuGlyThrSerArgGlyGly                               130135140                                                                      HisAspThrMetLysIleValAspSerIleGlnAspArgGlyIleAsn                               145150155160                                                                   GlnValTyrValIleGlyGlyAspGlyThrGlnArgGlyAlaGlyVal                               165170175                                                                      IlePheGluGluIleArgArgArgGlyLeuLysValAlaValAlaGly                               180185190                                                                      IleProLysThrIleAspAsnAspIleProValIleAspArgSerPhe                               195200205                                                                      GlyPheAspThrAlaValGluGluAlaGlnArgAlaIleAsnAlaAla                               210215220                                                                      HisValGluAlaGlySerAlaGluAsnGlyIleGlyLeuValLysLeu                               225230235240                                                                   MetGlyArgHisSerGlyPheIleAlaHisTyrAlaThrLeuAlaSer                               245250255                                                                      ArgAspValAspCysCysLeuIleProGluSerProPheTyrLeuGlu                               260265270                                                                      GlyGluGlyGlyLeuPheArgTyrLeuGluLysArgLeuLysGluAsn                               275280285                                                                      GlyHisMetValIleValValAlaGluGlyAlaGlyGlnLysLeuIle                               290295300                                                                      AsnGluThrLysGluSerMetGlyLysAspAlaSerGlyAsnSerIle                               305310315320                                                                   LeuLeuAspValGlyLeuTrpLeuSerGlnLysIleLysGluHisPhe                               325330335                                                                      LysLysIleLysThrThrIleAsnLeuLysTyrIleAspProThrTyr                               340345350                                                                      MetIleArgAlaIleProSerAsnAlaSerAspAsnValTyrCysThr                               355360365                                                                      LeuLeuAlaHisArgValValHisGlyAlaMetAlaGlyTyrThrGly                               370375380                                                                      PheThrValGlyGlnValAsnGlyArgHisCysTyrIleProPheTyr                               385390395400                                                                   ArgIleThrGluLysGlnAsnLysValSerIleThrAspArgMetTrp                               405410415                                                                      AlaArgLeuLeuSerSerThrAsnGlnProSerPheLeuSerLysLys                               420425430                                                                      AspValGluAspAlaLysMetGluGluGluArgAlaSerLysPhePhe                               435440445                                                                      AspGlyProProProAsnProLysValGluAspLysValAlaSerAsn                               450455460                                                                      GlyLysAlaValLys                                                                465                                                                            (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:7:                                               (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 2048 base pairs                                                    (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                         (C) STRANDEDNESS: double                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: cDNA to mRNA                                               (ix) FEATURE:                                                                  (A) NAME/KEY: CDS                                                              (B) LOCATION: 121..1686                                                        (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:7:                                        CGAACCCGAACCCTCCAAGCCGGCAGGCCGGAGCAGAGCGCGCTCCAAGCTGAATCCCCC60                 CATCTCCTATCGCCGTCGAAAGCCGCAGGTCCATTATAACTTTTTATGACCTTGTCTGGG120                ATGGCTGTTGCTTTCAAAGCAAGTACAAGTTCTGTCACACAGCAACAT168                            MetAlaValAlaPheLysAlaSerThrSerSerValThrGlnGlnHis                               151015                                                                         TGGTCAAGTCCAACAAAGGACCAGTGTCAATATGGTTTCACTCATTTA216                            TrpSerSerProThrLysAspGlnCysGlnTyrGlyPheThrHisLeu                               202530                                                                         AGCAGGCAAAAGTGCAGAAAAAGAGCACTGTGTGTGACAGCTATATCA264                            SerArgGlnLysCysArgLysArgAlaLeuCysValThrAlaIleSer                               354045                                                                         GGGAAGCTAGACCTAGATTTCACTGATCCTTCTTGGAACCAAAAGTAC312                            GlyLysLeuAspLeuAspPheThrAspProSerTrpAsnGlnLysTyr                               505560                                                                         CAGGAAGACTGGAACAGGCGTTTTAGTTTGCCACATATTAATGATATA360                            GlnGluAspTrpAsnArgArgPheSerLeuProHisIleAsnAspIle                               65707580                                                                       TATGATTTGGAACCAAGAAGAACTACATTCTCTTTGAAGAAAAACAGA408                            TyrAspLeuGluProArgArgThrThrPheSerLeuLysLysAsnArg                               859095                                                                         ATTCCCCTGGGTGATGGTGATGGCTCATCAACTGATATGTGGAACGGT456                            IleProLeuGlyAspGlyAspGlySerSerThrAspMetTrpAsnGly                               100105110                                                                      TATGTAAATAAGAATGATAGAGCCCTTTTGAAGGTGATAAAGTATGCA504                            TyrValAsnLysAsnAspArgAlaLeuLeuLysValIleLysTyrAla                               115120125                                                                      TCTCCTACTTCTGCTGGAGCTGAGTGCATTGATCCTGATTGTAGCTGG552                            SerProThrSerAlaGlyAlaGluCysIleAspProAspCysSerTrp                               130135140                                                                      GTGGAACACTGGGTTCATCGTGCAGGTCCTCGTAAGGAGATATATTAC600                            ValGluHisTrpValHisArgAlaGlyProArgLysGluIleTyrTyr                               145150155160                                                                   GAACCTGAAGAAGTAAAGGCTGCCATTGTTACCTGTGGAGGGCTCTGT648                            GluProGluGluValLysAlaAlaIleValThrCysGlyGlyLeuCys                               165170175                                                                      CCTGGTCTAAATGATGTCATTAGGCAGATAGTATTTACTTTGGAGACT696                            ProGlyLeuAsnAspValIleArgGlnIleValPheThrLeuGluThr                               180185190                                                                      TATGGGGTGAAGAATATTGTTGGAATCCCATTTGGTTATCGTGGATTT744                            TyrGlyValLysAsnIleValGlyIleProPheGlyTyrArgGlyPhe                               195200205                                                                      TTTGAGAAAGGCTTAAAAGAAATGCCGCTCTCGCGTGACGTGGTGGAA792                            PheGluLysGlyLeuLysGluMetProLeuSerArgAspValValGlu                               210215220                                                                      AACATAAATCTTTCTGGAGGAAGTTTCCTAGGAGTCTCTCGTGGAGGA840                            AsnIleAsnLeuSerGlyGlySerPheLeuGlyValSerArgGlyGly                               225230235240                                                                   GCTAAAACTAGTGAGATTGTAGATAGCATACAAGCCAGAAGAATTGAC888                            AlaLysThrSerGluIleValAspSerIleGlnAlaArgArgIleAsp                               245250255                                                                      ATGCTATTTGTAATTGGTGGAAATGGTAGCCATGCAGGAGCTAATGCT936                            MetLeuPheValIleGlyGlyAsnGlySerHisAlaGlyAlaAsnAla                               260265270                                                                      ATTCATGAGGAGTGTCGAAAGAGAAAACTGAAAGTTTCAGTTGTAGCA984                            IleHisGluGluCysArgLysArgLysLeuLysValSerValValAla                               275280285                                                                      GTCCCAAAGACAATTGATAATGATATACTTTTTATGGATAAGACGTTT1032                           ValProLysThrIleAspAsnAspIleLeuPheMetAspLysThrPhe                               290295300                                                                      GGTTTTGATACAGCTGTAGAGAAAGCTCAGCGTGCTATCAATTCTGCC1080                           GlyPheAspThrAlaValGluLysAlaGlnArgAlaIleAsnSerAla                               305310315320                                                                   TATATAGAGGCACGTAGTGCATACCACGGAATTGGGTTAGTAAAATTA1128                           TyrIleGluAlaArgSerAlaTyrHisGlyIleGlyLeuValLysLeu                               325330335                                                                      ATGGGAAGAAGTAGTGGATTCATAGCCATGCATGCTTCTCTTTCCAGT1176                           MetGlyArgSerSerGlyPheIleAlaMetHisAlaSerLeuSerSer                               340345350                                                                      GGACAGATTGATGTTTGCCTGATACCTGAGGTATCCTTCACACTTGAT1224                           GlyGlnIleAspValCysLeuIleProGluValSerPheThrLeuAsp                               355360365                                                                      GGAGAACATGGTGTCTTGCGACACCTTGAGCATTTACTTAATACAAAG1272                           GlyGluHisGlyValLeuArgHisLeuGluHisLeuLeuAsnThrLys                               370375380                                                                      GGATTTTGTGTGGTTTGTGTTGCTGAAGGTGCAGGGCAGGATTTACTC1320                           GlyPheCysValValCysValAlaGluGlyAlaGlyGlnAspLeuLeu                               385390395400                                                                   CAAAAATCAAATGCAACTGACGCTTCAGGAAATGTGATACTTAGTGAC1368                           GlnLysSerAsnAlaThrAspAlaSerGlyAsnValIleLeuSerAsp                               405410415                                                                      TTTGGTGTCCACATGCAGCAGAAGATCAAGAAGCATTTCAAGGACATC1416                           PheGlyValHisMetGlnGlnLysIleLysLysHisPheLysAspIle                               420425430                                                                      GGTGTTCCCGCTGATCTAAAATACATTGATCCAACATATATGGTTCGG1464                           GlyValProAlaAspLeuLysTyrIleAspProThrTyrMetValArg                               435440445                                                                      GCCTGCCGGGCAAATGCATCTGATGCTATTCTCTGCACCGTACTTGGG1512                           AlaCysArgAlaAsnAlaSerAspAlaIleLeuCysThrValLeuGly                               450455460                                                                      CAAAATGCTGTCCATGGAGCATTTGCTGGGTTCAGTGGCATCACGTCA1560                           GlnAsnAlaValHisGlyAlaPheAlaGlyPheSerGlyIleThrSer                               465470475480                                                                   GGTGTTTGCAACACACATTATGTCTACCTTCCCATCACAGAGGTCATT1608                           GlyValCysAsnThrHisTyrValTyrLeuProIleThrGluValIle                               485490495                                                                      ACAACACCAAAGCACGTCAACCCCAACAGCAGAATGTGGCACCGCTGC1656                           ThrThrProLysHisValAsnProAsnSerArgMetTrpHisArgCys                               500505510                                                                      CTCACATCCACTGGCCAGCCAGACTTCCATTGACTACTTCATTAACACCT1706                         LeuThrSerThrGlyGlnProAspPheHis                                                 515520                                                                         GAGAGCAAGGCGCCAGGAGAATATTTAATCCCACAAGGGACTGCTAACAGGAACTTGAAT1766               AAATCTGGCTAACCCAAAATTTTGTGAGGCTGGAGGAGCTCATAACGAAATTGCCAGAGC1826               CACCCCCTGGTCATCCAGACGTTGTAAGCATGCATACCCTTTCTAGTGGTTTGCAATCCC1886               AAGTGAAATTAAAAGTTAGGAGTTGTTTGTTCTCCAAACAATTCACCATAATCCCACCAG1946               CACCAAACTGGCTCCAGCCTTGTGAGATGTTTTATTGATGATGTACTATGCATAATAGGC2006               AATTGGATATTCTTACTGGGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA2048                                 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:8:                                               (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 522 amino acids                                                    (B) TYPE: amino acid                                                           (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: protein                                                    (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:8:                                        MetAlaValAlaPheLysAlaSerThrSerSerValThrGlnGlnHis                               151015                                                                         TrpSerSerProThrLysAspGlnCysGlnTyrGlyPheThrHisLeu                               202530                                                                         SerArgGlnLysCysArgLysArgAlaLeuCysValThrAlaIleSer                               354045                                                                         GlyLysLeuAspLeuAspPheThrAspProSerTrpAsnGlnLysTyr                               505560                                                                         GlnGluAspTrpAsnArgArgPheSerLeuProHisIleAsnAspIle                               65707580                                                                       TyrAspLeuGluProArgArgThrThrPheSerLeuLysLysAsnArg                               859095                                                                         IleProLeuGlyAspGlyAspGlySerSerThrAspMetTrpAsnGly                               100105110                                                                      TyrValAsnLysAsnAspArgAlaLeuLeuLysValIleLysTyrAla                               115120125                                                                      SerProThrSerAlaGlyAlaGluCysIleAspProAspCysSerTrp                               130135140                                                                      ValGluHisTrpValHisArgAlaGlyProArgLysGluIleTyrTyr                               145150155160                                                                   GluProGluGluValLysAlaAlaIleValThrCysGlyGlyLeuCys                               165170175                                                                      ProGlyLeuAsnAspValIleArgGlnIleValPheThrLeuGluThr                               180185190                                                                      TyrGlyValLysAsnIleValGlyIleProPheGlyTyrArgGlyPhe                               195200205                                                                      PheGluLysGlyLeuLysGluMetProLeuSerArgAspValValGlu                               210215220                                                                      AsnIleAsnLeuSerGlyGlySerPheLeuGlyValSerArgGlyGly                               225230235240                                                                   AlaLysThrSerGluIleValAspSerIleGlnAlaArgArgIleAsp                               245250255                                                                      MetLeuPheValIleGlyGlyAsnGlySerHisAlaGlyAlaAsnAla                               260265270                                                                      IleHisGluGluCysArgLysArgLysLeuLysValSerValValAla                               275280285                                                                      ValProLysThrIleAspAsnAspIleLeuPheMetAspLysThrPhe                               290295300                                                                      GlyPheAspThrAlaValGluLysAlaGlnArgAlaIleAsnSerAla                               305310315320                                                                   TyrIleGluAlaArgSerAlaTyrHisGlyIleGlyLeuValLysLeu                               325330335                                                                      MetGlyArgSerSerGlyPheIleAlaMetHisAlaSerLeuSerSer                               340345350                                                                      GlyGlnIleAspValCysLeuIleProGluValSerPheThrLeuAsp                               355360365                                                                      GlyGluHisGlyValLeuArgHisLeuGluHisLeuLeuAsnThrLys                               370375380                                                                      GlyPheCysValValCysValAlaGluGlyAlaGlyGlnAspLeuLeu                               385390395400                                                                   GlnLysSerAsnAlaThrAspAlaSerGlyAsnValIleLeuSerAsp                               405410415                                                                      PheGlyValHisMetGlnGlnLysIleLysLysHisPheLysAspIle                               420425430                                                                      GlyValProAlaAspLeuLysTyrIleAspProThrTyrMetValArg                               435440445                                                                      AlaCysArgAlaAsnAlaSerAspAlaIleLeuCysThrValLeuGly                               450455460                                                                      GlnAsnAlaValHisGlyAlaPheAlaGlyPheSerGlyIleThrSer                               465470475480                                                                   GlyValCysAsnThrHisTyrValTyrLeuProIleThrGluValIle                               485490495                                                                      ThrThrProLysHisValAsnProAsnSerArgMetTrpHisArgCys                               500505510                                                                      LeuThrSerThrGlyGlnProAspPheHis                                                 515520                                                                         (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:9:                                               (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 1558 base pairs                                                    (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                         (C) STRANDEDNESS: double                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: cDNA to mRNA                                               (ix) FEATURE:                                                                  (A) NAME/KEY: CDS                                                              (B) LOCATION: 1..1278                                                          (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:9:                                        TCTGTTGTTAAGCAGTACTTCGTTGATGAGGATGACACGGTTCCTCAG48                             SerValValLysGlnTyrPheValAspGluAspAspThrValProGln                               151015                                                                         AAGATCGTTGTTCATCCTGATAGTCCAAGAGGAACACATTTCCGCAGA96                             LysIleValValHisProAspSerProArgGlyThrHisPheArgArg                               202530                                                                         GCAGGACCACGTCAAAGGGTTTACTTTGATTCGGATGATGTTGTTGCG144                            AlaGlyProArgGlnArgValTyrPheAspSerAspAspValValAla                               354045                                                                         TGCATTGTTACATGTGGTGGCTTGTGTCCAGGGCTTAATACTGTCATC192                            CysIleValThrCysGlyGlyLeuCysProGlyLeuAsnThrValIle                               505560                                                                         AGAGAAATCGTTTGTGGATTGTCTTACATGTATGGTGTCAAGAAAATC240                            ArgGluIleValCysGlyLeuSerTyrMetTyrGlyValLysLysIle                               65707580                                                                       CTTGGCATTGAGGGAGGTTACAGAGGCTTCTACGCTAGGAACACGATC288                            LeuGlyIleGluGlyGlyTyrArgGlyPheTyrAlaArgAsnThrIle                               859095                                                                         GATTTGGATTTGAAAACAGTGAATGATATTCATAAACGTGGAGGAACC336                            AspLeuAspLeuLysThrValAsnAspIleHisLysArgGlyGlyThr                               100105110                                                                      ATCCTCGGGACTTCAAGAGGTGGTCACGACACTACTAAGATAGTTGAT384                            IleLeuGlyThrSerArgGlyGlyHisAspThrThrLysIleValAsp                               115120125                                                                      AGTATTCAAGATCGTGGGATTAACCAGGTTTATATAATCGGTGGAGAT432                            SerIleGlnAspArgGlyIleAsnGlnValTyrIleIleGlyGlyAsp                               130135140                                                                      GGATCACAGAAAGGAGCAGCTGTTATATTCGAGGAGATTAGGAGACGT480                            GlySerGlnLysGlyAlaAlaValIlePheGluGluIleArgArgArg                               145150155160                                                                   GGACTCAAAGTTGCTGTTGCAGGGATCCCCAAAACAATCGACAATGAC528                            GlyLeuLysValAlaValAlaGlyIleProLysThrIleAspAsnAsp                               165170175                                                                      ATTCCTATTATCGATAGATCGTTCGGGTTTGACACAGCTGTAGAAGAG576                            IleProIleIleAspArgSerPheGlyPheAspThrAlaValGluGlu                               180185190                                                                      GCTCAACGTGCTATCAACGCAGCTCATGTGGAAGCTACAAGTTTTGAG624                            AlaGlnArgAlaIleAsnAlaAlaHisValGluAlaThrSerPheGlu                               195200205                                                                      AATGGTATTGGTCTTGTCAAGTTAATGGGACGTTATAGTGGATTCATT672                            AsnGlyIleGlyLeuValLysLeuMetGlyArgTyrSerGlyPheIle                               210215220                                                                      GCGATGTATGCAACACTAGCCAGCAGAGACGTGGACTGCTGCTTGATC720                            AlaMetTyrAlaThrLeuAlaSerArgAspValAspCysCysLeuIle                               225230235240                                                                   CCGGAATCTCCATTTTTTCTTGAAGGCAAAGGCGGTCTTTTCGAGTTT768                            ProGluSerProPhePheLeuGluGlyLysGlyGlyLeuPheGluPhe                               245250255                                                                      ATCGGTAAACGGCTAAAGGAGATTGGTCACATGGTGATTGTGATAGCA816                            IleGlyLysArgLeuLysGluIleGlyHisMetValIleValIleAla                               260265270                                                                      GAAGGTGCTGGACAAGATCTGTTGGCTGAAAGCAATGAACAGTCCACA864                            GluGlyAlaGlyGlnAspLeuLeuAlaGluSerAsnGluGlnSerThr                               275280285                                                                      ACCCTCAAAGATGCATCTGGGAACAAACTTCTACAAGACGTTGGCCTA912                            ThrLeuLysAspAlaSerGlyAsnLysLeuLeuGlnAspValGlyLeu                               290295300                                                                      TGGATCTCCCAACGGATCAAGGATCATTTTGCCAAGAAGATGACCCTA960                            TrpIleSerGlnArgIleLysAspHisPheAlaLysLysMetThrLeu                               305310315320                                                                   AACCTGAAATACATAGATCCAACCTACATGATAAGGGCTGTTCCGAGC1008                           AsnLeuLysTyrIleAspProThrTyrMetIleArgAlaValProSer                               325330335                                                                      AATGCATCAGACAATGTATGCTGCACGCTGTTAGCTCAAAGCGCGGTT1056                           AsnAlaSerAspAsnValCysCysThrLeuLeuAlaGlnSerAlaVal                               340345350                                                                      CATGGAGTGATGGCTGGTTACAATGGCTTCACCGTTGGTCTTGTTAAT1104                           HisGlyValMetAlaGlyTyrAsnGlyPheThrValGlyLeuValAsn                               355360365                                                                      GGCAGACATACTTACATTCCCTTCTATAGGATCACTGAGAAACAGAAC1152                           GlyArgHisThrTyrIleProPheTyrArgIleThrGluLysGlnAsn                               370375380                                                                      AAGGTGGTGATCACTGACAGAATGTGGGCAAGGCTTTTGTCTTCGACA1200                           LysValValIleThrAspArgMetTrpAlaArgLeuLeuSerSerThr                               385390395400                                                                   AACCAGCCTAGTTTCATGAAGCACGATGATCACCACGAGCCAAACCAT1248                           AsnGlnProSerPheMetLysHisAspAspHisHisGluProAsnHis                               405410415                                                                      TCTGGTGGTGAAGCAGGTGCCATGAACTGGTGAAACAACTCTTGTCTGAC1298                         SerGlyGlyGluAlaGlyAlaMetAsnTrp                                                 420425                                                                         AATCATTTTGTTTGAGAAAGAAAGTAAGGTTTCTTTATTTTGATAGAAGCTTCTCAAAAT1358               GTTTTATAAATCTTTCTTCAAGCAAAAGAGAAAGAGAGAGATATACATTTCCTCCTTGGA1418               GAAGTTCATACAGTTATAATTGTGATAAATCCATGTATTAAACTTTGGAGAGTGATCTTG1478               CACTTGCCAAACTGTAATTTACACTTTTATAATAACAAATCTATAAGGAAATGTTTTGGT1538               TCAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA1558                                                       (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:10:                                              (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 426 amino acids                                                    (B) TYPE: amino acid                                                           (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: protein                                                    (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:10:                                       SerValValLysGlnTyrPheValAspGluAspAspThrValProGln                               151015                                                                         LysIleValValHisProAspSerProArgGlyThrHisPheArgArg                               202530                                                                         AlaGlyProArgGlnArgValTyrPheAspSerAspAspValValAla                               354045                                                                         CysIleValThrCysGlyGlyLeuCysProGlyLeuAsnThrValIle                               505560                                                                         ArgGluIleValCysGlyLeuSerTyrMetTyrGlyValLysLysIle                               65707580                                                                       LeuGlyIleGluGlyGlyTyrArgGlyPheTyrAlaArgAsnThrIle                               859095                                                                         AspLeuAspLeuLysThrValAsnAspIleHisLysArgGlyGlyThr                               100105110                                                                      IleLeuGlyThrSerArgGlyGlyHisAspThrThrLysIleValAsp                               115120125                                                                      SerIleGlnAspArgGlyIleAsnGlnValTyrIleIleGlyGlyAsp                               130135140                                                                      GlySerGlnLysGlyAlaAlaValIlePheGluGluIleArgArgArg                               145150155160                                                                   GlyLeuLysValAlaValAlaGlyIleProLysThrIleAspAsnAsp                               165170175                                                                      IleProIleIleAspArgSerPheGlyPheAspThrAlaValGluGlu                               180185190                                                                      AlaGlnArgAlaIleAsnAlaAlaHisValGluAlaThrSerPheGlu                               195200205                                                                      AsnGlyIleGlyLeuValLysLeuMetGlyArgTyrSerGlyPheIle                               210215220                                                                      AlaMetTyrAlaThrLeuAlaSerArgAspValAspCysCysLeuIle                               225230235240                                                                   ProGluSerProPhePheLeuGluGlyLysGlyGlyLeuPheGluPhe                               245250255                                                                      IleGlyLysArgLeuLysGluIleGlyHisMetValIleValIleAla                               260265270                                                                      GluGlyAlaGlyGlnAspLeuLeuAlaGluSerAsnGluGlnSerThr                               275280285                                                                      ThrLeuLysAspAlaSerGlyAsnLysLeuLeuGlnAspValGlyLeu                               290295300                                                                      TrpIleSerGlnArgIleLysAspHisPheAlaLysLysMetThrLeu                               305310315320                                                                   AsnLeuLysTyrIleAspProThrTyrMetIleArgAlaValProSer                               325330335                                                                      AsnAlaSerAspAsnValCysCysThrLeuLeuAlaGlnSerAlaVal                               340345350                                                                      HisGlyValMetAlaGlyTyrAsnGlyPheThrValGlyLeuValAsn                               355360365                                                                      GlyArgHisThrTyrIleProPheTyrArgIleThrGluLysGlnAsn                               370375380                                                                      LysValValIleThrAspArgMetTrpAlaArgLeuLeuSerSerThr                               385390395400                                                                   AsnGlnProSerPheMetLysHisAspAspHisHisGluProAsnHis                               405410415                                                                      SerGlyGlyGluAlaGlyAlaMetAsnTrp                                                 420425                                                                         (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:11:                                              (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 5 amino acids                                                      (B) TYPE: amino acid                                                           (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: peptide                                                    (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:11:                                       ArgAlaGlyProArg                                                                15                                                                             (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:12:                                              (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 12 amino acids                                                     (B) TYPE: amino acid                                                           (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: peptide                                                    (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:12:                                       IleValThrCysGlyGlyLeuCysProGlyLeuAsn                                           1510                                                                           (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:13:                                              (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 6 amino acids                                                      (B) TYPE: amino acid                                                           (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: peptide                                                    (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:13:                                       GlyTyrArgGlyPheTyr                                                             15                                                                             (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:14:                                              (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 6 amino acids                                                      (B) TYPE: amino acid                                                           (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: peptide                                                    (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:14:                                       IleValAspSerIleGln                                                             15                                                                             (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:15:                                              (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 8 amino acids                                                      (B) TYPE: amino acid                                                           (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: peptide                                                    (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:15:                                       ProLysThrIleAspAsnAspIle                                                       15                                                                             (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:16:                                              (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 8 amino acids                                                      (B) TYPE: amino acid                                                           (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: peptide                                                    (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:16:                                       PheGlyPheAspThrAlaValGlu                                                       15                                                                             (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:17:                                              (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 6 amino acids                                                      (B) TYPE: amino acid                                                           (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: peptide                                                    (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:17:                                       AlaGlnArgAlaIleAsn                                                             15                                                                             (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:18:                                              (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 6 amino acids                                                      (B) TYPE: amino acid                                                           (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: peptide                                                    (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:18:                                       ValLysLeuMetGlyArg                                                             15                                                                             (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:19:                                              (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 5 amino acids                                                      (B) TYPE: amino acid                                                           (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: peptide                                                    (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:19:                                       SerGlyPheIleAla                                                                15                                                                             (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:20:                                              (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 6 amino acids                                                      (B) TYPE: amino acid                                                           (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: peptide                                                    (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:20:                                       AlaGluGlyAlaGlyGln                                                             15                                                                             (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:21:                                              (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 5 amino acids                                                      (B) TYPE: amino acid                                                           (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: peptide                                                    (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:21:                                       AspAlaSerGlyAsn                                                                15                                                                             (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:22:                                              (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 9 amino acids                                                      (B) TYPE: amino acid                                                           (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: peptide                                                    (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:22:                                       LeuLysTyrIleAspProThrTyrMet                                                    15                                                                             (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:23:                                              (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 5 amino acids                                                      (B) TYPE: amino acid                                                           (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: peptide                                                    (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:23:                                       CysLeuIleProGlu                                                                15                                                                             __________________________________________________________________________ 

We claim:
 1. An isolated DNA molecule encoding plant ATP dependent fructose 6-phosphate 1-phosphotransferase.
 2. The DNA according to claim 1, that encodes ATP dependent fructose 6-phosphate 1-phosphotransferase originating from a plant, wherein the Q10 value at 5° C. of the encoded enzyme is not more than 2.4.
 3. The DNA according to claim 1, which encodes the amino acid sequence identified as SEQ ID NO:
 2. 4. The DNA according to claim 3, which has the DNA sequence identified as SEQ ID NO:
 1. 5. The DNA according to claim 1, which encodes the amino acid sequence identified as Sequence ID No.
 4. 6. The DNA according to claim 5, which has the DNA sequence identified as Sequence ID No.
 3. 7. The DNA according to claim 1, which encodes the amino acid sequence identified as Sequence ID No.
 6. 8. The DNA according to claim 7, which has the DNA sequence identified as Sequence ID No.
 5. 9. The DNA according to claim 1, which encodes the amino acid sequence identified as Sequence ID No.
 8. 10. The DNA according to claim 9, which has the DNA sequence identified as Sequence ID No.
 7. 11. The DNA according to claim 1, which encodes the amino acid sequence identified as Sequence ID No.
 10. 12. The DNA according to claim 11, which has the DNA sequence identified as Sequence ID No.
 9. 13. A recombinant vector comprising a DNA molecule encoding plant ATP dependent fructose 6-phosphate 1-phosphotransferase which can express said plant ATP dependent fructose 6-phosphate 1-phosphotransferase in a host cell.
 14. A method for changing sugar content in plant cells under low temperature, which comprises transforming said plant with said recombinant vector according to claim
 13. 15. The method according to claim 14, wherein said plant is potato.
 16. The DNA of claim 1, which encodes plant ATP dependent fructose 6-phosphate 1-phosphotransferase derived from a plant selected from the group consisting of potato, Flaveria, rice, maize and radish.
 17. The DNA of claim 1, which encodes a plant ATP dependent fructose 6-phosphate 1-phosphotransferase comprising the conserved amino acid sequences set forth in SEQ ID NOS: 11, 14, 21 and
 22. 18. The DNA of claim 1, which encodes a plant ATP dependent fructose 6-phosphate 1-phosphotransferase comprising the conserved amino acid sequences set forth in SEQ ID NOS: 11-23.
 19. The DNA of claim 16 or 17, wherein said DNA molecule is a genomic DNA molecule.
 20. A recombinant vector which comprises DNA encoding plant ATP dependent fructose 6-phosphate 1-phosphotransferase comprising the conserved amino acid sequences set forth in SEQ ID NOS: 11, 14, 21 and
 22. 21. A recombinant vector which comprises DNA encoding ATP dependent fructose 6-phosphate 1-phosphotransferase which has a Q10 value at 5° C. of not more than 2.4 and which comprises the conserved amino acid sequences set forth in SEQ ID Nos: 11-23.
 22. The vector of claim 21, wherein said DNA encodes the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO:2.
 23. The vector of claim 21, wherein said DNA molecule contains the DNA sequence set forth in the coding region of SEQ ID NO:1.
 24. A cell which contains a recombinant DNA molecule encoding plant ATP dependent fructose 6-phosphate 1-phosphotransferase.
 25. A cell which contains a recombinant DNA molecule encoding plant ATP dependent fructose 6-phosphate 1-phosphotransferase as defined in claim 16 or
 17. 26. The cell of claim 24, wherein said DNA molecule contains genomic DNA encoding said ATP dependent fructose 6-phosphate dependent 1-phosphotransferase.
 27. The cell of claim 24, which is a microorganism.
 28. The cell of claim 24, which is a bacteria.
 29. The cell of claim 24, which is a yeast.
 30. The cell of claim 24, which is a plant cell.
 31. The cell of claim 24, which is an animal or human cell.
 32. A transformed plant which is transformed with the DNA molecule of claim 1, 16 or 17, wherein said plant expresses said DNA to produce said plant ATP dependent fructose 6-phosphate 1-phosphotransferase.
 33. A transformed plant which is transformed with a DNA molecule encoding plant ATP dependent fructose 6-phosphate 1-phosphotransferase comprising the conserved amino acid sequences set forth in SEQ ID NOS: 11, 14, 21 and
 22. 34. The transformed plant of claim 33, wherein said DNA encodes the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO:2.
 35. The transformed plant of claim 33 or 34, which is a potato.
 36. A method for making potato chips which comprises:slicing a potato made by the method of claim 15 to prepare potato slices; and heating the potato slices to make potato chips.
 37. The method of claim 36, wherein said potatoes are stored at a cold temperature at or below 15° C. before said potato chips are made. 